3m 


LIBRA* 


EARTH 

SCIENC 
UBRARY 


/ 

REPORT 


GEOLOGICAL,  RECONNOISSANCE 


MADE    IN    1835, 


FROM  THE   SEAT  OF  GOVERNMENT, 


BY    THE    WAT    OF 


GREEN  BAY  AND  THE  WISCONSIN  TERRITORY, 


COTEAU  DE  PRAIRIE, 

AX  ELEVATED  RIDGE  DIVIDING  THE  MISSOURI  FROM  THE  ST.   PETEIl's   RIVER. 

BY  G.  w.  [FEATHERSTONHAUGH, 

U.   S.  GEOLOGIST. 


Doc,  333. — Printed  by  order  of  the  Senate. 


WASHINGTON  : 

PRINTED   BY  GALES  AND   SEATOtf. 

1836. 


PALEONTOLOGY  LIBRARY 
Gift  of  C.  A.  Kofoid 


(pt 
F 


BAjmi 

SCIENCES 


Report  from   the  Secretary  of  War,  in  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Senate, 
with  a  report  from  the  United  States  Geologist. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 

April  23,  1836. 

SIR  :  In  compliance  with  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the  1st  instant,  I 
have  the  honor,  in  the  absence,  from  indisposition,  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  to 
enclose  a  report  of  the  Topographical  Bureau,  transmitting  the  report  of  the 
United  States  Geologist. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

C.  A.  HARRIS, 

Chief  Clerk,  War  Department. 
Hon.  M.  VAN  BUREN, 

President  of  the  Senate, 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  BUREAU, 

Washington,  April  23,  1836. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith,  a  copy  of  the  report  of  G.  W. 
Featherstonhaugh,  United  States  Geologist,  called  for  by  a  resolution  of  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  1st  of  April. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

•  J.  J.  ABERT, 

Lieut.  Col.  Topographical  Engineers. 
Hon.  LEWIS  CASS, 

Secretary  of  War. 


REPORT. 


WASHINGTON,  April  22,  1836. 

Lieut.  Col.  J.  J.  ABERT, 

U.  S.  Topographical  Engineers  : 

SIR  :  In  obedience  to  your  instructions,  dated  July  7,  1835, 
directing  me  to  proceed  to  the  vicinity  of  that  elevated  ridge 
which  separates  the  Missouri  river  from  the  St.  Peter's,  the 
chief  northwestern  tributary  of  the  Mississippi,  hitherto  des- 
ignated on  the  maps  by  the  appellation  of  Coteau  de  Prairie, 
and  indicating  Green  Bay  as  a  point  on  my  route  from  whence 
an  opportunity  would  be  afforded  of  examining  the  mineral 
structure  of  the  country  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  I  left  this 
city  on  the  8th  of  the  same  month,  and  have  now  the  honor 
to  transmit  a  report  of  my  proceedings. 

Before,  however,  I  enter  upon  that  part  of  my  report  imme- 
diately connected  \vith  my  instructions,  I  desire  to  explain 
why  I  have  been  induced  to  extend  this  document,  and  lend 
to  it  a  character  perhaps  not  generally  expected  of  it. 

Well  acquainted  with  the  strong  and  general  desire  ex- 
pressed for  the  acquirement  of  geological  knowledge  in  this 
country,  and  aware  of  the  importance  which  would  soon  be 
attached  to  it  if  proper  measures  were  taken  to  awaken  the 
public  attention,  I  thought  it  my  duty,  when  drawing  up  my 
report  in  1835,  concerning  the  elevated  country  between  the 
Missouri  and  Red  rivers,  to  give  a  somewhat  elementary  ex- 


6  Feather  stonhaugh^s  Geological  Report. 

position  of  the  principles  of  the  science,  with  a  view  to  draw 
the  public  attention  still  more  to  the  subject,  and  in  order  to 
the  more  successful  illustration  of  the  geology  of  the  United 
States.  The  geological  works  which  had  hitherto  been  pub- 
lished, contained,  with  very  few  exceptions,  references  illus- 
trative only  of  the  geological  structure  of  foreign  countries, 
and  as  I  had  to  treat  of  what  is  purely  a  science  of  observa- 
tion, I  conceived  the  great  mass  of  minds  to  which  I  felt 
bound  to  address  myself,  would  probably  have  been  deterred 
from,  rather  than  attracted  to  the  subject,  had  I  merely  given 
a  technical  description  of  what  I  had  seen,  without  offering 
the  means  of  comparative  illustration.  I  therefore  adopted, 
upon  that  occasion,  as  I  shall  do  now,  that  course  which 
promised  to  be  the  most  extensively  useful,  confident,  that 
however  the  task  might  be  imperfectly  executed,  permanent 
advantages  might  be  accomplished  by  it,  and  that  justice  would 
be  done  to  my  motives.  In  this  I  have  not  been  disappointed  : 
the  zeal  with  which  I  have  attended  to  my  duties  has  been 
acknowledged,  and  I  have  received,  since  my  return  from  my 
late  excursion,  sufficient  evidence  of  the  public  approbation 
of  my  labors,  besides  the  most  gratifying  assurances  from  nu- 
merous intelligent  members  of  the  present  Congress,  that  the 
method  I  had  adopted  was  considered  useful,  and  had  been 
decidedly  approved. 

But  a  change  had  taken  place  in  public  opinion  since  the 
publication  of  that  report.  The  authorization  of  these  geologi- 
cal investigations  by  the  General  Government,  had  given  great 
importance  to  them,  much  intellect  had  been  at  work,  and  a 
strong  solicitude  expressed  for  an  accurate  exposition  of  the 
general  geology  of  the  United  States.  The  most  powerful 
States  in  the  Union  were  legislating  on  the  subject,  and  a 
prospect  was  thus  held  out  that  the  general  desire  for  inform- 
ation which  the  action  of  the  Government  had  so  much  con- 
tributed to  put  in  motion,  would  soon  receive  new  vigor  from 
the  fostering  care  of  each  of  the  particular  States.  Looking 


Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  7 

at  this  promising  aspect  of  things  since  my  retnrn  from  my 
late  excursion,  I  have  become  more  than  ever  impressed  with 
the  propriety  of  endeavoring  to  make  my  labors  as  useful,  in 
the  popular  sense,  as  my  opportunities  permit. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  geological  literature  of  the  pres- 
ent day,  is  not  of  a  sufficiently  elementary  character  for  the 
very  great  number  of  persons  desirous  of  possessing  a  practi- 
cal guide  for  their  studies,  simple  and  perspicious  enough  to 
keep  down  the  repugnance  which  technical  works,  applicable 
to  an  advanced  state  of  the  science,  invariably  produce. 
Many  powerful  minds  are  deterred  from  the  pursuit  of  various 
branches  of  natural  history,  from  an  inability  to  take  the  first 
step  successfully,  and  he  who  is  properly  penetrated  with  this 
truth,  and  obeys  its  influence,  will  esteem  it  no  degradation 
to  take  upon  himself  the  humbler  task  of  elementary  instruc- 
tion for  the  benefit  of  the  many,  even  when  he  may  have 
reason  to  suppose  his  intentions  will  not  always  be  indulgently 
appreciated  by  the  least  liberal  of  the  scientific  few.  Inde- 
pendent of  the  greater  chance  of  doing  good,  and  of  the 
pleasure  of  looking  forward  to  witness  the  extraordinary  elas- 
ticity of  minds  from  which  the  pressure  has  been  gently 
removed,  the  very  fact  of  there  being  no  elementary  work  ap- 
plicable to  American  geology,  no  geological  column  showing 
the  succession  of  the  beds  and  a  comparative  view  of  the 
geological  equivalents  in  both  hemispheres,  together  with  a 
brief  abstract  of  the  characteristic  organic  remains  contained 
in  the  beds,  and  the  other  remarkable  phenomena  illustrative 
of  the  structure  of  the  accessible  part  of  the  crust  of  the 
earth,  would  be  a  sufficient  motive  for  any  writer  whose  ex- 
perience might  be  thought  to  authorize  the  attempt,  not  only 
to  endeavor  thus  to  be  extensively  useful,  but  indirectly  to  re- 
flect the  greatest  degree  of  intelligence  upon  the  observations 
which  it  was  his  duty  to  make,  that  they  might  be  understood, 
by  all  who  read  them,  in  the  most  comprehensive  sense.  In 
short,  perceiving  the  general  desire  to  acquire  systematic  in- 


8  Featherstonhaugh^s  Geological  Report. 

formation  on  this  subject,  what  I  would  aim  to  accomplish  is, 
the  putting  into  the  hands  of  all  who  wish  to  cultivate  geolo- 
gical knowledge,  an  elementary  work  which  should  not  be  a 
dry  recapitulation  of  what  was  familiarly  known  before,  but 
a  brief  and  intelligent  view  of  the  whole  subject,  explaining 
the  harmony  which  prevails  in  the  structure  of  the  earth's 
surface,  and  how  important  a  knowledge  of  its  details  are  in 
an  economical  point  of  view,  making  the  whole,  at  every 
step,  subservient,  as  much  as  possible,  to  the  illustration  of 
American  geology.  I  must  think  that  no  individual  can  ac- 
quire information  of  this  kind,  without  experiencing  a  corre- 
sponding enlargement  of  mind,  that  makes  him  a  more  useful 
citizen  and  a  happier  man.  The  plainest  farmer  may  thus  be 
made  to  understand  how  a  knowledge  of  geology  is  useful  to 
agriculture.  Very  extensive  districts  consist  of  a  recurrence 
of  decomposed  shales,  sandstones,  and  superficial  soil  pro- 
duced from  primary  rocks,  and  are  comparatively  barren. 
In  such  beds  siliceous  substances  predominate,  they  having 
but  a  small  proportion  of  calcareous  matter.  A  single  band 
of  limestone  sometimes  effects  a  revolution  in  the  value 
of  an  extensive  district  of  this  character.  We  hear  soils 
called  light,  and  heavy,  and  wet ;  it  is  the  mineral  substance 
of  the  geological  beds  which  makes  them  so.  Some  families 
of  grain  and  plants  fail  upon  peculiar  soils ;  this  is  owing  to 
the  presence  or  absence  of  particular  minerals,  for  even  ani- 
mals do  not  thrive  where  their  food  is  not  appropriate.  Oc- 
casionally a  district  or  given  area  is  too  wet  for  crops  that 
would  succeed  if  the  land  were  drier ;  a  little  knowledge  of 
geology  would  teach  the  farmer  that  the  springy  quality  of  his 
land  is  owing  to  a  bed  clay  that  intercepts  the  rain,  prevents 
its  percolating  downwards,  and  forces  it  out  at  its  surface. 
Wherever  he  finds  the  clay  he  will  find  the  same  inconve- 
nience, and  knowing  the  extent  of  the  cause,  his  ingenuity 
will  soon  teach  him  to  remove  it  by  a  proper  course  of  drain- 
age. I  remember  seeing,  several  years  ago,  the  most  barren 


Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  9 

part  of  the   beach  at  Long  Branch,  in  New  Jersey,  suddenly 
bearing  a  luxuriant  crop  of  clover.     This  I  learned  had  been 
produced  by  carting  the  common  gravel  upon  it  from  the  ad- 
jacent sea-shore.    This  gravel,  which  had  a  very  unpromising 
appearance  to  the   naked  eye,  upon  being  examined  with  a 
pocket  microscope,  was  found  to  contain  great  quantities  ol 
comminuted  sea-shells  and  marine  animal  matter,  constituting 
it  a  valuable  manure.     There   are  those    who  object  to  this 
manner  of  considering  the  subject,    that  it   is  an  attempt   to 
draw  farmers  off*  from  practical  operations  to  considerations  of 
a  more  theoretical  nature,  believing  that  even  an  elementary 
acquaintance   with  chemistry  and  geology  is  not  fitted  for  a 
class,  the  majority  of  which  is  unstudied.     But  a  long  and  in- 
timate acquaintance  with  such  men,  acquired   by  a  residence 
amongst  them,  has  convinced  me  that  the  objection  is  not  well 
founded.     Divest  these   sciences  of  the  prejudice  which  at- 
taches to  their  names,  impart  their  principles  (which  after  ail 
are  the  principles  which  govern  nature)  to  men  of  good  sense, 
in  a  plain  and  regular  way,  consistent  with  their  own  habits 
of  thinking  and  acting,  and  they  will  understand  them  per- 
fectly well,  and  put  them  to  the  best  use.     Who  can   hold  a 
conversation  with  an  intelligent  man  of  this  kind,  without  be- 
ing affected  by  his  situation,  standing  upon   the  threshold  of 
knowledge,  whilst  to  him  it  is  all  darkness  and  confusion.     A 
clear-headed  practical  fanner  may  be  made,  however  unlet- 
tered, to  comprehend   enough  of  these   branches  to  convince 
him  of  the  unerring  truth  of  the  principles  which  govern  his 
vocation.     At  every  step  he  takes  his  condition  will  become 
more  elevated.     Men  may  ridicule  the  idea  of  imbuing  the 
minds  of  plain  farmers  with  a  philosophical  turn,  yet  if  it  is 
to  be  done,  it  would  unquestionably  lead  to  very  beneficial  re- 
sults, and  the  sum  of  human  happiness,  in  every  direction, 
be  thereby  greatly  increased. 

Entertaining  these  opinions,  I  have  been  greatly  encouraged 
to  adopt  the  course  I  have  pursued,  by  the  advice  of  gentle- 


10  Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

men  in  the  present  Congress,  for  whose  judgment  I  have 
great  deference,  and  who,  having  experienced  the  difficulties 
which  are  inseparable  from  the  study  of  scientific  works, 
where  the  higher  branches  are  alone  treated  of,  and  where 
the  technicalities  are  entirely  left  unexplained,  have  sug- 
gested the  usefulness  of  appending  to  my  report  a  glossary  or 
explanation  of  the  common  terms  used  in  geology.  Believing, 
therefore,  that  I  have  not  formed  an  erroneous  estimate  of 
what  may  be  deemed  both  expedient  and  useful  at  the  present 
moment,  and  having  for  my  sole  motive  the  accomplishment 
of  a  general  good,  I  have  given  a  brief  account  of  the  ex- 
isting mineral  beds  both  in  Europe  and  America,  as  far  as 
regards  their  general  structure  and  order  of  succession  to  each 
other,  adding  such  observations  concerning  the  nomenclature 
that  has  been  applied  to  them,  as  may  serve  to  soften  the 
difficulties  to  those  who  are  engaging  for  the  first  time  with 
geological  literature,  and  to  assist  in  guiding  observers  in 
ascertaining  the  geological  position  of  the  rocks  which  are 
the  subjects  of  their  investigation.  This  part  of  the  subject 
will  be  found  further  illustrated  by  a  comparative  tabular 
view  of  the  geological  column  in  both  hemispheres. 

Perhaps  the  propriety  of  the  extended  form  which  this  re- 
port takes,  may  be  safely  placed  upon  other  considerations. 
Those  who,  like  myself,  have  witnessed  the  rise  and  progress 
of  civil  engineering  in  this  country,  are  well  acquainted  with 
the  causes  of  that  frequent  misapplication  of  means  in  the 
construction  of  some  of  our  earliest  and  most  important  inter- 
nal improvements,  and  the  influence  of  which  only  ceased  in 
proportion  as  experience  and  study  had  converted  good  sur- 
veyors into  expert  engineers.  The  country  having  become 
awakened  to  the  value  of  its  mineral  resources,  the  States 
are  now  legislating  on  this  important  subject,  and  the  same 
process  will  have  to  be  repeated  in  the  coming  extension  of 
geological  surveys.  Men  of  enthusiasm  and  energy  in  the 
acquisition  of  information  connected  with  natural  history, 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  11 

will  have  to  supply  the  demand  which  will  soon  arise  for  geo- 
logical investigations  ;  but  many  of  them  will  come  forward 
with  attainments  variously  acquired,  and  with  opinions  and 
prejudices  that  will  be  discordant  with  the  views  entertained 
by  others.  Nomenclatures  have  been  offered  for  the  geolo- 
gical strata  of  this  country,  which  have  little  or  no  affinity  for 
those  established  by  the  most  experienced  geologists,  and 
which,  if  not  discouraged,  would  throw  much  confusion  into 
the  study  of  the  science  ;  for  geology  is  the  science  of  nature, 
and  not  of  any  particular  country,  and  apart  from  the  positive 
advantages  derived  from  the  use  of  simple  terms,  universally 
received,  it  is  one  of  the  blessings  of  science  successfully 
pursued,  and  often  the  only  reward  of  those  who  devote 
themselves  to  it,  that,  establishing  a  universal  harmony  of  in- 
tellect, it  inspires  mutual  benevolence  in  minds  separated  by 
immense  distances,  and  unites  them  all  in  the  noble  object  of 
advancing  the  best  interests  of  mankind. 

In  closing  these  preliminary  observations,  I  must  in  justice 
to  myself  remark  that,  from  the  necessity  of  die  case,  the 
reports  which  it  has  hitherto  been  my  duty  to  draw  up,  could 
not,  however  I  might  have  been  disposed  to  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  individuals  anxious  for  minute  sections  and  descrip- 
tions of  all  the  particular  localities  which  have  come  under 
my  notice  during  my  official  connexion  with  the  Government, 
and  however  desirable,  have  taken  that  character.  The  geolo- 
gical books,  it  is  true,  contain  great  varieties  of  such  sections, 
and  they  are  eminently  valuable,  but  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  they  are  the  results  of  labors  voluntarily  undertaken, 
limited  to  particular  districts,  and  accomplished  by  a  leisure  in- 
dependent of  all  obligations  to  perform  other  and  indispensable 
duties.  The  geological  literature  we  possess,  and  which  is 
almost  exclusively  European,  has  grown  out  of  the  brilliant 
career  which  this  science  has  had  for  near  thirty  years,  under 
the  direction  of  a  numerous  body  of  energetic  and  often 
wealthy  men,  assisted  by  all  the  facilities  of  highly-civilized 


12  FeatherstonhctMgh's  Geological  Report. 

and  well-settled  countries.  The  great  contrast  which  the  re- 
mote parts  of  this  country  present  in  this  respect,  is  some- 
times not  adverted  to.  My  own  opportunities  are  particularly 
contrasted  with  those  of  the  European  geologists  I  have  al- 
luded to.  The  Government  conceiving  itself  authorized  to 
cause  these  geological  reconnoissances  to  be  made  only  in  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  my  instructions  are  made  out 
conformably,  and  it  becomes  a  matter  of  duty  with  me  strictly 
to  obey  them.  The  vast  extent  of  the  United  States  makes 
it  occasionally  difficult  to  reach  particular  points,  before  the 
season  arrives  when  it  is  necessary  to  turn  back  to  escape  the 
rigor  of  the  winter.  Such  was  the  case  during  my  excursion 
last  year.  To  the  haste  indispensable  to  the  performance  of 
these  distant  excursions,  may  be  added  other  serious  inconve- 
niences, amongst  which  may  be  enumerated  the  want  of  ac- 
curate maps,  and  the  wild  state  of  the  country  on  the  borders 
of  and  beyond  the  white  population,  where  the  acquisition 
of  correct  topographical  knowledge  and  the  cares  of  self-pres- 
ervation become  a  very  absorbing  occupation.  It  is  true 
that  expeditions  of  this  character  compensate  to  the  geologist 
the  advantages  he  enjoys  in  other  situations.  He  passes 
through  various  countries,  and  enjoys  rare  opportunities  of 
comparing  their  mineral  structure,  and  of  tracing  the  exten- 
sive formations  of  the  Western  part  of  this  country,  but  it 
results  from  all  these  circumstances  that,  being  obliged  to  deal 
more  with  general  than  particular  geology,  he  acquires  the 
habit  of  considering  geology  more  upon  the  large  than  the 
minute  scale.  Such  is  the  case  with  myself,  for  although  I 
am  not  altogether  debarred  the  opportunities  of  availing  my- 
self of  the  details  of  formations  which  are  new  and  interest- 
ing,  and  never  neglect  them,  yet  I  have  hitherto,  in  my 
reports,  thought  it  more  consistent  with  my  instructions  gene- 
rally to  suppress  for  the  present,  those  sections  which  I  have 
made  in  localities  out  of  the  territories  of  the  United  States, 
reserving  them  for  an  occasion  when  I  hope  ere  long  to  pro- 


Feather  stonhaugh' s  Geological  Report.  13 

ducethem,  consistent  with  what  is  due  to  every  consideration. 
In  one  sense,  however,  these  extensive  excursions  are  highly 
favorable  to  an  object  of  great  importance  to  the  country,  the 
construction  of  a  general  geological  map  of  the  United  States, 
an  undertaking  which  will  probably  require  a  great  deal  of 
time  to  perfect.  I  have  been  able  to  collect  materials  for  the 
outline  of  such  a  map,  which  we  should  not  have  possessed 
but  for  the  particular  nature  of  my  duties  and  of  the  journeys 
I  have  made,  and  to  supply  many  others  from  observations 
made  in  passing  through  the  interior  of  the  country.  The 
exertions  now  making  to  produce  geological  information  in 
various  States,  will  increase  the  number  and  value  of  these 
materials.  A  geological  map  of  the  whole  United  States, 
where  all  the  formations  would  be  exhibited  on  a  large  scale, 
and  the  most  important  deposites  of  fuel,  metals,  and  useful 
minerals  be  accurately  laid  down,  would  be  a  monument  both 
useful  and  honorable  to  the  country  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
I  trust  the  day  is  not  distant  when  Congress  will  direct  such 
a  map  to  be  constructed  upon  a  scale  commensurate  with  the 
importance  of  the  undertaking.  I  proceed  now  to  the  ele- 
mentary portion  of  the  report  of  which  I  have  spoken. 

Geology,  in  its  most  comprehensive  sense,  means  the  study 
of  nature  and  of  all  natural  objects,  whether  those  recent 
ones  belonging  to  the  present  order  of  nature,  or  those  fossil 
ones  belonging  to  more  remote  periods,  and  which  are  sup- 
posed to  have  preceded  the  creation  of  man,  because  no 
vestige  of  the  existence  of  our  race  has  been  hitherto  found 
coeval  with  them.  And  as  all  the  forms  in  nature  present 
themselves  to  us,  either  in  organic  or  inorganic  bodies,  mean- 
ing bodies  which  have  the  faculty  of  continuing  their  kinds, 
and  those  which  have  not,  it  results  that  geology  stands  in 
relation  with  all  the  physical  sciences,  and  that  every  geolo- 
gist ought  to  have  some  knowledge  of  mineralogy,  zoology, 
and  botany,  since  the  first  comprehends  all  inorganic  bodies, 
and  the  last  two  all  organic  forms.  In  a  more  limited  sense, 


14  Feather  stonhaugtfs  Geological  Report. 

geology  comprehends  only  the  study  of  the  mineral  structure 
of  rocks,  their  relative  position,  and  the  fossils  imbedded  in 
them.  Restricted  to  these  branches,  this  study,  however 
useful  it  might  be,  could  not  rise  to  the  dignity  of  a  science. 
The  origin  of  mountains  and  valleys,  the  changes  of  the  bed 
of  the  ocean,  the  action  of  rivers,  and  the  nature  of  volca- 
noes, together  with  the  highly  liberal  study  of  comparative 
anatomy,  might  be  overlooked  in  this  narrow  field  of  observa- 
tion, and  with  them  all  those  lofty  philosophical  views  of  the 
harmony  of  nature,  by  the  aid  of  which  geology  may  claim 
to  be  considered  as  opening  the  avenues  to  all  the  branches 
of  natural  science. 

An  individual  may  be  supposed  whose  mind  had  never 
before  been  awakened  to  this  subject,  and  contemplating  for 
the  first  time  the  varied  nature  of  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
the  sublime  height  of  the  mountains,  the  profound  valleys, 
the  extensive  prairies  without  hills  or  vales,  the  oceans,  lakes, 
and  rivers,  with  the  thousand  irregular  beauties  which  give 
so  much  grace  to  the  face  of  nature.  Yet  might  this  super- 
ficial aspect  awaken  no  more  enlarged  idea  than  that  the 
earth  was  a  confused  mass  of  rocks,  and  clays,  and  sands,  as- 
sembled without  order  or  design.  At  the  sea-shore,  how- 
ever, where  the  rocks  are  often  worn  down  to  mural  escarp- 
ments,* and  the  beach  is  usually  covered  with  shingles  or 
rounded  pebbles,  he  could  not  fail  to  perceive  that  these  last 
had  been  brought  into  that  state  by  mutual  trituration  from 
water,  and  had  thus  been  divested  of  the  angular  form  they 
had  when  first  broken  off  from  the  parent  mass,  where  they 
once  were,  in  the  language  of  geologists,  in  situ,  or  in  place. 
These  would  at  once  remind  him  of  the  rounded  pebbles  of 
a  similar  character  found  on  the  dry  land,  almost  universally, 
and  often  at  a  great  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  in 
many  instances  thousands  of  feet  above  the  marine  level. 

'  Perpendicular  sections  "resembling  walls. 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  15 

The  moment  such  an  individual  begins  to  think  of  the  cause 
which  could  have  produced  this  agreement  betwixt  pebbles 
found  in  such  dissimilar  situations,  he  enters  upon  the  study 
of  geology.  This  is  one  of  its  first  and  most  important  lessons, 
and  the  solution  to  the  inquiry  will  be  found  to  be  the  key 
to  similar  phenomena,  in  situations  still  more  extraordinary. 
To  trace  these  rounded  pebbles  to  their  native  rocks,  often 
hundreds  of  miles  distant  from  them,  they  must  be  compared 
with  other  pebbles  strewed  along  the  whole  distance  to  the 
original  masses  from  whence  they  were  detached ;  and  then 
comes  the  great  question  of  the  cause  which  gave  •  them  the 
pebble  form,  and  which  brought  them  there.  Another  im- 
portant question  would  now  suggest  itself  to  him,  whether  the 
whole  substance  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  one  solid  mass  of 
materials  resembling  those  which  appear  on  the  surface.  Al- 
though he  had  observed  no  mineral  differences  in  the  rocks 
he  had  examined,  yet  if  the  territory  upon  which  he  trod  fur- 
nished several  strata  or  beds  superimposed  upon  each  other, 
he  might  find  some  indications  of  those  strata  either  in  the  mural 
escarpments  on  the  sea-coast,  in  the  valleys  and  ravines  inland 
which  had  been  worn  by  the  action  of  rivers,  or  in  the  fis- 
sures which  had  been  caused  by  any  natural  agents.  In  such 
situations  he  would  often  find  the  mineral  structure  of  the 
rocks  corresponding  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  valleys  and 
of  rivers,  in  consequence  of  the  strata  having  been  divided, 
and  the  same  beds  presenting  themselves  on  each  bank. 
When  fully  satisfied  that  there  were  various  mineral  beds 
lying  beneath  the  arable  soil  on  the  surface  containing  the 
rolled  pebbles,  he  would  be  still  more  anxious  to  learn  the 
nature  of  all  the  beds  lying  beneath  those  he  had  examined. 
At  length,  extending  his  investigations,  he  would  find  that  the 
same  beds,  containing  the  same  kinds  of  fossil  shells,  were  laid 
upon  each  other  in  the  same  order  of  succession  at  very  dis- 
tant points,  and  that  where  he  could  recognise  one  bed,  it 
would  serve  as  a  key  to  the  probable  existence  of  other  asso- 


16  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

ciate  strata.    And  thus,  by  travelling  and  practical  investiga- 
tion, and  by  books  and  the  conversation  of  experienced  men, 
the  geological  student  at  length  comes  to  understand  that  the 
earth  is  not  a  mass  of  rocks,  clays,  and  sands,  accumulated 
without  order  and  design,  but  that  a  portion  of  the  superficial 
part  of  the  planet,  now  called  the  crust,  is  composed  of  a 
series  of  strata,  differing  from  each  other  in  very  material 
circumstances,  yet  observing  the  same  order  of  superposition 
to  each  other  at  the  greatest  geographical  distances,  and  hav- 
ing, of  course,  come   into  that  order  at  successive  periods. 
Leaving  the  geological  student  to  the  impressions  which 
these  appearances  will  make  upon  him,  the  various  strata  of 
this  series,  as  they  have  been  observed  both  in  Europe  and 
in    the   United    States,  and   which    comprehend    the    whole 
rocky  structure  of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  as  far  as  it  has  been 
examined,  will   be   briefly   considered.     It  is  stated  in   my 
report  of  1835,*  that  the  whole  of  these  rocks,  considered  as 
a  geological  column,  which,  in  one  sense,  as  will  be  hereafter 
shown,   form  a  true  geological    column,  may  be    subdivided 
into  two  divisions ;  the  inferior,  in  which  no  animal  or  vege- 
table fossils  have  been  observed,  and  therefore  deemed  to  be 
inorganic,  and  the  superior,  which  is  organic,  because  in  it 
those  fossils  abound.   This  last  division  is  probably,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  lowest  rocks  of  the  preceding  division,  of 
aqueous  origin,  being  constituted  of  the  ruins  of  some  of  the 
inferior  rocks,  brought  into  a  comminuted  state  by  the  action 
of  water,  which,  when  in  a  state   of  repose,   subsequently 
distributed   them  into  levels.     Other  rocks  are  the  result  of 
quiet  depositions  from  mineral  waters,  and  some  may  be  the 
result   of  copious  ejections  of  mud  from  ancient   volcanoes. 
There    is    also   another   class  of  rocks,   to  which   the    term 
"  intrusive   rocks"  has   been  well   applied.     It  is  familiarly 
known  that  modern  volcanoes  eject  rocky  matter  in  a  mol- 

*  Pages  12,  13, 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  17 

ten  state  in  vast  quantities  ;  these  streams  of  lava,  when 
indurated,  become  rock  again,  of  various  degrees  of  mine- 
ral composition,  and  whose  constituent  parts  have  a  great 
affinity  to  the  simple  elements  of  the  rocks  composing  the 
mass  of  the  inorganic  rocks  before  referred  to.  In  examining 
the  strata  of  the  superior  part,  we  often  find  them  penetrated 
and  disturbed  by  rocks  of  this  character,  bearing  the  general 
name  of  trap.  It  is  inferred  from  them,  and  from  their  ap- 
pearance, even  in  the  inferior  rocks,  where  also  granitic 
veins  are  found  injected,  that,  in  the  earliest  stages  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth,  igneous  causes  were  in  action  of  sufficient 
force  to  fuse  mineral  bodies,  and  to  throw  them  towards  the 
surface,  during  which  progress  they  penetrated  the  beds 
which  lay  in  their  way,  as  is  exemplified  in  diagram  No.  1, 
of  a  singular  exhibition  of  trap  injected  into  sandstone,  at 
Trotternish,  in  the  Isle  of  Skye.*  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
horizontal  trap  veins  represent  the  handle  and  triple  prongs 
of  a  fork,  and  that  if  all  that  part  of  the  section  to  the  left 
from  where  the  handle  is  joined  to  the  prongs  had  been  dis- 
integrated and  worn  away  in  the  lapse  of  time,  leaving  the 
part  to  the  right  representing  the  prongs,  or  if  the  same 
part  of  the  section  had  been  so  covered  up  with  other  mineral 
matter  as  to  defy  examination,  the  part  exposed  would  have 
presented  a  very  puzzling  case  of  horizontal  trap  veins ;  but 
we  can  here  trace  the  prongs  to  the  handle,  and  the  handle 
to  a  huge  vertical  dike  of  trap  that  has  its  undoubted  origin 
from  below. 

Before  the  geological  column  spoken  of  is  described,  a  few 
remarks  may  be  offered  on  the  current  nomenclatures  which 
have  been  applied  to  its  various  members.  It  was  necessary 
in  the  infancy  of  the  science,  to  give  names  to  the  strata  as 
they  were  recognised ;  these  were,  of  course,  either  theoreti- 
cal or  local,  as  a  natural  and  philosophical  classification  and 

*  McCullocVs  Western  Islands. 


18  Featherstonhaugh^s  Geological  Report. 

nomenclature  can  only  be  the  result  of  much  experience, 
How  many  of  the  modern  designations  will  be  eventually  re- 
tained we  know  not;  but  for  the  present,  independent  of  their 
own  merits,  it  appears  important  that  we  should  adhere  as 
closely  as  circumstances  will  admit  of  it,  to  the  arrangements 
of  British  geologists.  It  is  acknowledged,  even  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  that  their  great  exertions  and  learning  have 
raised  the  science  to  the  consequence  it  now  enjoys  ;  and  as 
the  most  valuable  records  of  geological  literature  are  con- 
tained in  our  common  overspreading  language,  there  seems 
to  be  every  motive  for  our  present  deference  to  British  au- 
thorities on  this  subject,  and  for  establishing  such  harmony  of 
views  between  the  geologists  of  both  hemispheres  as  will 
accelerate  the  period  of  a  permanent  classification.  For  the 
present  all  geologists  appear  to  be  agreed  upon  the  fact  that 
we  have  sufficiently  advanced  in  the  examination  of  the  struc- 
ture of  various  parts  of  the  earth,  to  perceive  that  the  nu- 
merous strata  which  constitute  the  accessible  part  of  its  crust 
have  come  into  their  places  in  succession  to  each  other,  ac- 
cording to  an  order  which  may  be  said  to  be  invariable,  since 
the  exceptions  to  invariability  which  occasionally  occur  can 
be  satisfactorily  referred  to  causes  necessary  to  the  constancy 
of  succession  of  the  strata ;  for  the  deposition  of  the  sedi- 
mentary rocks,  or  those  deposited  from  water,  is  referable 
to  the  indirect  action  of  those  subterranean  causes  which  have 
either  dislocated  or  broken  down  the  older  rocks,  from  the 
ruins  of  which  most  of  them  are  composed,  or  have  sent  to 
the  surface  such  wide-spread  mineral  solutions,  that  we  are 
able  to  conceive  of  them  only  by  the  extent  of  their  deposites, 
which  could  never  have  been  produced  by  mineral  springs 
upon  so  contracted  a  scale  as  those  which  exhibit  themselves 
under  the  present  order  of  things.  In  other  words,  the  causes 
which  have  directly  or  indirectly  produced  the  deposition  of 
all  sedimentary  rocks  have  continued  to  act  at  successive 
periods,  sometimes  disturbing  the  older  beds,  and  forming 


Feather  stonhaugWs   Geological  Report.  19 

new  ones  from  their  ruins,  at  other  times  producing  new  strata 
from  mineral  solutions. 

Accordingly  one  of  the  most  interesting  problems  in  geology 
is  to  separate  those  periods  from  each  other,  and  to  ascertain, 
by  the  mineral  structure  of  such  rocks,  by  the  organic  remains 
imbedded  in  them,  and  by  the  measure  of  conformability  of 
strata  to  a  horizontal  line,  the  positive  affinities  and  differ- 
ences between  them  all.  By  this  process,  an  estimate  may 
eventually  be  formed  of  the  exact  amount  of  those  affinities 
and  differences  in  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  earth,  and  a 
consentaneous  judgment  be  pronounced  upon  the  nature  of 
those  causes,  from  the  universality  or  locality  of  their  effects, 
whether  they  are  constitutional  to  the  planet  or  not. 

It  is  then,  only,  that  a  nomenclature  founded  upon  those  un- 
erring principles  by  which  nature  is  constituted,  can  be  es- 
tablished and  applied  to  all  the  strata  and  phenomena  which 
have  preceded  the  present  order  of  things,  being  those  which 
are  peculiarly  the  objects  of  geological  inquiry.  It  will  prob- 
ably also  be  found  that  the  judgment  which  will  ultimately 
be  formed  will  be  confirmed  by  what  is  passing  in  the  present 
order  of  nature,  where  the  sum  of  affinities  and  differences  is 
still  further  extended,  and  where  the  partial  production  of 
rocky  matter,  whether  of  a  sedimentary  or  intrusive  nature, 
is  obviously  caused  by  the  action  of  the  same  universal  prin- 
ciples. 

In  accordance  with  the  intention  to  treat  this  subject  in  an 
elementary  manner,  a  brief  account  will  be  given  of  the  princi- 
pal strata  composing  the  geological  column,  as  it  has  been  ob- 
served in  Europe,  noticing,  at  the  same  time,  the  American 
beds,  which,  from  their  general  agreement  and  position  in  the 
series,  have  been  thought  to  be  equivalents ;  premising,  how- 
ever, that  where  a  group  of  beds  occurs,  the  members  of  which 
have  a  strong  affinity  for  each  other  in  mineral  structure  and  or- 
ganic remains,  and  which  differ  materially  from  the  adjacent 
beds  lying  above  or  below,  it  is  sometimes  called  a  formation, 

9* 


20  Feather  stonhaugli's  Geological  Report. 

and  its  members  are  deemed  to  have  been  deposited  at  an  epoch 
peculiar  to  themselves,  and  separated  from  any  other  epoch 
by  a  period  of  time  of  some  duration.  If  the  existing  surface 
of  the  earth  should  at  any  future  era  be  entombed,  with  the 
zoological  and  botanical  bodies  constituting  the  present  order 
of  nature,  by  new  sedimentary  deposites  brought  there,  as  the 
existing  ones  apparently  have  been,  and  a  new  order  of  things 
were  to  commence  consequent  to  the  repose  after  such  an 
event,  having  some  affinities  for  the  preceding  one,  yet  pos- 
sessing organic  bodies  not  belonging  to  it,  such  sedimentary 
deposites  would,  according  to  the  received  language  in  geolo- 
gy, be  called  a  new  formation.  This  hypothetical  state  of 
things  is  thought  to  have  been  often  repeated  in  the  ancient 
state  of  the  planet.  It  is  proper  also  to  remark,  that,  although 
the  members  of  this  column  preserve  an  invariable  succession 
to  each  other,  yet  it  frequently  happens  that,  in  various  parts 
of  the  world,  many  of  them  are  wanting.  These  deficiencies  in 
the  localities,  where  they  are  observed,  are  to  be  attributed 
either  to  the  inaction  of  the  causes  to  which  the  beds  owe 
their  origin,  or  to  other  causes,  through  the  agency  of  which 
they  have  disappeared.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  deficiency  is 
only  apparent,  the  strata  being  so  much  altered  in  appearance 
from  the  contiguity  of  intrusive  rocks,  as  to  assume  another 
character.  Wherever  any  of  the  strata  are  found,  however, 
the  order  of  their  succession  is  constant,  like  the  alphabetic 
order  of  letters,  B  in  America  being  never  found  above  A, 
whilst  A  in  China,  or  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  is  always 
found  above  all  the  other  letters,  and  never  under  any  of 
them.  The  intrusive  rocks  are  of  course  excluded  from  this 
statement.  Where  A  (and  the  same  may  be  said  of  any  other 
letter)  is  found  contiguously  overlying  G,  or  any  other  bed, 
in  such  instances  the  intervening  beds  are  deficient,  from 
some  of  the  causes  before  alluded  to. 

By  such  inductive  steps  are  we  awakened  to  a  sense  of 
those  truths  which  geology  teaches,  and  come  to  perceive 
that  the  general  arrangement  of  the  beds  composing  the  su- 


FeatherstonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  21 

perticial  part  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  not  incoherent  and 
at  random,  but  has  been  produced  by  causes  both  constant 
and  general ;  for  since,  after  a  mature  examination  of  the  Eu- 
ropean beds,  evidences  of  the  same  geological  epochs  are 
found  at  the  most  distant  points,  it  would  be  infinitely  a  more 
strange  thing  if  affinities  were  not  found  here,  than  it  can 
possibly  be  in  the  eyes  of  sceptical  persons  to  find  some  of 
the  beds  in  both  hemispheres  considered  as  equivalents. 

Although  this  order  of  succession  exists,  yet  in  no  part  of 
the  world  have  all  these  beds  been  found  uninterruptedly 
overlying  each  other,  as  they  are  represented  in  the  geologi- 
cal column.  This  perpendicular  section  only  represents  all  the 
beds  which  have  been  described  as  coming  into  their  places 
in  succession  to  each  other.  If,  however,  all  these  deposites 
had  been  made  in  the  same  locality,  and  had  not  been  subse- 
quent!}-disturbed,  such  a  section  might  have  existed  in  nature. 
But,  as  has  been  before  observed,  some  of  them  are  wanting 
in  every  country.  In  the  tabular  view,  at  page  24,  the  strata, 
for  the  sake  of  convenient  reference,  are  grouped.  The  beds, 
from  the  variegated  or  red  marl  to  the  Portland  oolite,  both 
inclusive,  comprehend  what  English  geologists  have  named 
the  oolitic  series ;  this  group  has  an  average  thickness  of 
2,700  feet  in  England,  but  has  not  yet  been  found  on  any  part 
of  this  continent.  Chalk,  also,  which  has  an  average  thick- 
ness of  about  700  feet  in  Europe,  is  not  found  here,  although 
many  associate  strata  belonging  to  the  group  it  is  a  member 
of,  and  lying  both  above  and  below  it,  are  well  developed  in 
the  United  States.  This  remarkable  deposite  in  the  countries 
where  it  exists,  contains  in  the  upper  part  of  its  white  mass 
numerous  irregular  beds  of  nodules  and  plates  of  the  dark- 
colored  flint  of  commerce.  Haldon  Hill,  in  Devonshire,  consists 
of  green  sands  superimposed  upon  red  marl,  the  intervening 
beds  being  wanting.  But  the  chalk  which  lies  upon  the 
green  sands  in  the  tabular  view  is  not  there,  and  an  unobserv- 
ing  traveller  would  cross  this  lofty  barrier  without  being  re- 


22  FeatherslonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

minded  of  it.  A  geologist,  however,  is  struck  with  the  im- 
mense heaps  of  flints  deposited  in  various  parts  of  this  hill, 
some  in  entire  nodules,  exactly  as  they  are  found  in  the  chalk, 
and  others  broken  up  and  comminuted  into  a  thousand  pieces. 
Looking  around  him,  he  sees  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  a  rich  and 
broad  valley  with  the  river  Ex  flowing  through  it  to  the  ocean, 
which  is  visible  on  his  right.  At  some  distance  in  front  he 
sees  the  white  chalk  cliffs  of  Dorsetshire.  He  now  compre- 
hends the  phenomenon,  sees  that  the  chalk  has  once  been  in 
position  where  he  now  finds  only  the  flints,  and  that  some 
cause  has  put  an  immeasurable  water  power  in  motion,  which 
has  scooped  out  the  vale  of  Ex,  and  washed  out  all  the  creta- 
ceous matter  for  many  miles,  leaving  the  flints  behind  as 
monuments  of  the  deposite  in  which  they  were  imbedded,  and 
of  the  irresistible  force  of  the  movement  which  separated 
them.  This  has  been  found  repeated  in  other  parts  of  Europe. 
On  this  continent  no  chalk  flints  have  yet  been  found,  nor 
any  other  evidences  that  the  chalk  has  been  removed,  and 
the  same  observation  may  be  applied  to  the  oolitic  series, 
wanting  here,  since  its  characteristic  fossils  have  not  been 
found. 

Of  the  absence  of  other  beds  of  the  geological  series,  we 
have  remarkable  instances  on  this  continent.  On  the  geologi- 
cal line  extending  from  the  State  of  Maine  continuously,  in 
the  direction  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
Washington,  and  the  falls  of  all  the  Atlantic  rivers,  to  We- 
tumpka,  on  the  Coosa  river,  in  Alabama,  there  are  no  beds  be- 
tween the  primary  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  series,  and  the 
loose  detritus  and  alluvial  deposites  on  the  surface,  but  very 
important  members  of  the  upper  secondary  and  tertiary 
groups  are  found  east  of  that  line,  from  whence  it  may  be 
inferred  that  they  were  deposited  when  the  ocean  was  bound- 
ed by  that  geological  line.  Of  the  causes  of  this  deficiency 
of  strata  upon  so  long  a  line,  whether  it  is  to  be  attributed  to 
the  early  elevation  of  the  primary  rocks  above  the  marine 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  23 

level,  or  to  causes  which  have  removed  other  strata,  geologists 
may  divide  in  opinion  ;  but  the  absence  of  all  evidence  of  a 
disturbing  force  commensurate  with  such  extended  effects, 
strengthens  the  first  conjecture,  which  recommends  itself,  by 
the  simplicity  of  its  fitness,  in  accounting  for  the  phenomenon. 
The  following  tabular  view  of  the  principal  known  rocks 
exhibits  such  a  section  as  might  have  existed  in  nature  if  all 
the  beds  had  been  deposited  in  one  locality,  and  had  never 
been  disturbed.  It  also  presents,  as  geologists  will  perceive, 
for  the  first  time  in  any  tabular  view,  the  new  arrangements 
of  that  important  portion  of  the  column  hitherto  designated  as 
grauwacke  and  transition  formations,  by  those  distinguished 
leaders  of  the  science,  Mr.  Murchison  and  the  Rev.  Adam 
Sedgwick. 


Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 


TABULAR  VIEW  OP  THE  FORMATIONS. 

SUPERIOR  OR  ORGANIC  DIVISION. 

Superficial  soil  or  present  order  of  nature. 

Feet. 

Tertiary  order. 

Upper  tertiary  or  pliocene. 

Middle  tertiary  or  miocene. 

Lower  tertiary  or  etcene. 

Cretaceous  group  :      C 
deficient  in  the  U. 
States.                         ( 

Upper  chalk,  -with  flints. 

jl 

Lower  chalk. 

Chalk  marl. 

Subcretaceous  group.  < 

Upper  green  sand.                                 100 

Gault.                                                       Iso 

Lower  green  sand.                                250 

Wealden  group  :  de-    C 
ficient  in  the  United   < 
States.                         ( 

Weald  clay.                                            300 

Hastings  sand.                                         400 

Purbeck  limestone.                               250 

Oolitic  series  :  defi- 
cient in  the  United  < 
States. 

Portland  oolite.                                         120 

Kimrneridge  clay.                                   500 

Coral  rag.                                                150 

Oxford  clay.                                            600 

Cornbrash.                                                30 

Forest  marble.                                            50 

Bradford  clay.                                          50 

Great  or  Bath  oolite.                             130 

Fuller's  earth.                                        140 

Inferior  oolite.                                         180 

Lias.                                                         500 

New  red  sandstone 
gr6up  :     deficiency    I 
not    positively    as- 
certained. 

Variegated  or  red  marl.                        500 

Muschelkalk.                                          300 

New  red  sandstone.                               300 

Zechstein.                                               500 

Exeter  red  conglomerate.                    500 

Carboniferous  group.  < 

Bituminous  coal  measures.                 1,000 

Millstone  grit  and  shale.                       700 

Carboniferous  limestone. 

850 

Old  red  sandstone. 

10,000 

r 

Silurian  system.           <^ 

Ludlow  rocks.                                     2,000 

Wenlock  limestone  and  shale.         1,800 

Caraduc  beds.                                     2,500 

Llandcilo  flags. 

1,200 

Cambrian  system.       < 

Upper  Cambrian. 

\  oT 

Middle  Cambrian. 

Lower  Cambrian. 

INFERIOR  OR  INOR- 
GANIC DIVISION. 

Serpentine. 

Greenstone  rocks. 

Talcose  slates. 

Hornblende  rocks. 

Primordial  limestone. 

Mica  slate. 

Gneiss. 

Granite. 

N.  B.  The  figures  represent  the  average  approximate  thickness  of  pome  of  the  beds. 


Feather  stonhaugVs  Geological  Report.  25 

It  having  been  already  stated  that  the  rocks  belonging  to 
the  superior  division  of  this  column  are  constituted  princi- 
pally of  the  ruins  of  those  of  the  inferior  division,  brought  into 
a  comminuted  state  by  the  action  of  water,  and  subsequently 
deposited  into  levels,  the  obvious  propriety  of  considering 
the  column  in  the  ascending  order  will  be  perceived.  Every 
practical  student  will  also  see  the  necessity  of  having  some 
knowledge  of  the  mineral  structure  of  the  older  rocks,  before 
he  can  form  a  judicious  opinion  of  the  mineral  origin  of  the 
more  modern  ones.  The  greater  number  of  the  formations 
of  the  inorganic  division  are  put  down  approximative^  as  to 
their  order  of  succession.  Some  of  them,  as  the  granite, 
are  unstratified,  whilst  the  gneiss  and  some  others  are  strati- 
fied. Although  all  of  them  are  not  of  igneous  origin,  yet 
most  of  them  in  their  turn  seem  to  have  acted  in  the  charac- 
ter of  intrusive  rocks.  In  some  countries  we  have  evidence 
of  trappean  matter  having  been  ejected  from  beneath  the 
granite.  Whilst,  however,  they  are  not  found  in  all  countries 
in  the  order  assigned  to  them  in  this  column,  yet  they  have 
been  found  every  where  approximating  to  it.  In  the  early 
days  of  geology,  when  theoretical  terms  had  more  influence 
than  at  present,  they  were  called  primitive,  because  it  was 
supposed  they  had  been  produced  before  all  other  rocks. 
The  term  primary  has  since  been  substituted,  as  expressing 
their  antecedent  state  in  the  column,  without  any  theoretical 
assertion.  Geologists,  on  account  of  the  extreme  interest  at- 
tending the  study  of  the  fossiliferous  rocks,  have  paid  such 
undivided  attention  to  them,  that  the  most  ancient  formations 
have  been  comparatively  neglected,  and  an  ample  field  has 
thus  been  left  for  the  arrangement  of  this  mineralogical 
branch  of  geology,  where  the  rarer  minerals  and  crystals  may 
assist  in  pointing  out,  as  fossils  have  hitherto  done,  the 
natural  classification  of  these  primordial  rocks.  We  are  en- 
couraged to  believe  that  this  will  not  be  deferred  a  long 
time,  when  we  look  to  the  splendid  results  of  the  Silurian 


26  Featherstonhaugk^s  Geological  Report. 

system  which  have  been  wrought  out  of  the  grauwackean 
chaos  during  the  last  four  years,  by  the  perseverance  and 
sound  judgment  of  Mr.  Murchison. 

Before  entering  upon  any  description  of  these  inferior  rocks, 
some  observations  may  be  introduced  here,  upon  the  two 
general  classes  into  which  all  deposites  may  be  arranged — 
those  of  chemical  and  those  of  mechanical  origin.  Although 
the  object  of  the  geologist  is  rather  to  arrive*at  just  conclu- 
sions respecting  the  causes  to  which  mineral  beds  owe  their 
position,  than  to  the  elementary  nature  of  the  materials  of 
which  they  are  composed,  yet  some  mineralogical  acquaint- 
ance with  their  mineral  constituents  is  requisite  to  discrimi- 
nate between  them,  and  every  student  is  supposed  to  have 
prepared  himself,  in  some  degree,  to  comprehend  the  chemi- 
cal laws  under  the  influence  of  which  mineralogical  bodies 
take  their  peculiar  forms.  Crystalline  bodies,  however  imper- 
fect, are  the  result  of  chemical  agencies;  and  where  a  rock  is 
composed  of  regular  crystals  of  one  mineral,  imbedded  in  a 
massive  paste  of  imperfectly  crystallized  mineral  matter  of 
another  kind,  we  may  come  safely  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
whole  mass  has  had  a  crystalline  origin.  There  is  a  porphy- 
ritic  granite  of  this  kind,  called  Shapfell  granite,  in  England, 
which  is  met  with  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  the 
rock  upon  which  the  coal  measures  of  Chesterfield,  Virginia, 
rest,  and  I  have  observed  it  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Blue 
ridge,  in  Madison  county,  in  that  State,  and  in  various  parts 
of  Georgia.  This  rock  has  evidently  never  been  disturbed 
as  to  its  aggregation  since  its  first  chemical  production.  The 
other  class  of  rocks  is  of  a  different  character.  When  ob- 
served by  the  microscope,  the  aggregate  parts  appear  to  con- 
sist of  small  fragments  of  crystalline  minerals,  having  been 
subjected  to  much  attrition  by  water,  in  consequence  of 
which  they  have  lost  their  sharp  edges,  and  have  become 
rounded.  Deposites  of  this  kind,  the  constituents  of  which 
have  been  mechanically  separated  from  crystalline  bodies, 


Feather stonhaugh^  8  Geological  Report.  27 

are  easily  recognised  for  the  greater  part.  They  have  all 
been  evidently  deposited  from  water,  and  are  classed  amongst 
the  sedimentary  rocks,  in  contradistinction  to  the  others, 
which  are  deemed  to  be  ignigenous.  There  are  a  few  rocks 
which  have  an  ambiguous  character :  those  limestones  which 
have  been  deposited  from  solutions  take  a  crystalline  aspect, 
and  many  strata  proximate  to  ignigenous  rocks  have  been  sub- 
jected to  some  change  in  their  external  appearance,  but  the 
exceptions  will  not  interfere  with  this  classification. 

The  common  granite  is  easily  recognised  by  its  granular 
crystalline  structure,  composed  of  felspar,  quartz,  and  mica, 
nearly  equally  diffused  and  united  into  a  mass  without  any 
apparent  cement.  The  varieties  are  numerous,  occasioned 
by  the  varying  proportions  of  its  constituent  parts,  and  the 
substitution  of  other  minerals  for  some  of  them.  Amongst 
the  most  remarkable  are  those  known  as  graphic  granite,  a 
beautiful  mineral  composed  almost  entirely  of  lamellar  felspar 
and  quartz,  so  disposed  as  to  present  an  appearance  of  literal 
characters.  This  variety  contains  beryls,  garnets,  and  other 
minerals,  and,  where  it  is  found  in  extensive  deposites,  as  in 
the  State  of  Delaware,  about  ten  miles  from  Wilmington,  is 
valuable  for  the  manufacture  of  porcelain.  Another  variety 
is  the  porphyritic  granite  before  mentioned,  where  large 
rhomboidal  crystals  of  red  and  white  felspar  are  imbedded  in 
a  paste  of  small-grained  granite. 

The  gneiss  is  generally  a  stratified  rock,  often  abounding  so 
much  in  mica  as  to  constitute  its  base.  The  plates  of  this  last 
mineral  are  distributed  parallel  to  its  strata,  which  occasion  it 
to  split  easily  in  that  direction.  Granite  often  passes  into  this 
rock,  the  quartz  being  absent.  There  is  a  singular  rock  on 
the  prairie  at  the  grand  portage  east  of  Lac  qui  parle,  on  the 
St.  Peter's.  Immense  masses,  some  of  them  twenty  feet  high, 
abound  there,  with  a  laminated  structure  so  perfect  as  to  form 
a  true  stratification.  The  lamina  are  in  many  instances  only 
an  inch  in  breadth,  and  dip  to  the  southeast  with  an  almost 


28  Featherstonhaugtts  Geological  Report. 

vertical  inclination.  It  is  a  red  granular  rock,  containing  little 
or  no  mica,  resembling  granite  in  every  particular  except  its 
stratification.  Gneiss  is  a  very  abundant  rock  in  the  Atlantic 
portion  of  the  United  States.  It  is  extensively  quarried  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  for  architectural 
purposes,  whilst  on  the  hills  above  Georgetown,  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  it  is  in  a  decomposed  state ;  the  felspar 
having  lost  its  cohesion,  and  the  mica  being  very  much 
broken  down.  The  ferruginous  matter  belonging  to  this 
rock  has  accumulated  by  molecular  attraction,  showing  itself 
in  intersecting  carbonaceous-looking  streaks  and  seams  where 
the  roads  have  been  cut  through  the  hills,  but  being  more 
generally  diffused  as  a  red  oxyde.  These  numerous  ferru- 
ginous partings,  which  cause  the  gneiss  to  separate  into  irre- 
gular masses  with  bright  black  faces,  are  not  found  in  that 
part  of  the  gneiss  which  is  undecomposed  in  the  same  vicinity 
along  Rock  creek. 

The  characteristic  rock  of  the  mica  slate  formation  con- 
tains little  or  no  felspar,  and  has  a  slaty  structure,  with  a 
glittering  appearance.  Its  fissility  enables  it  to  be  conve- 
niently used  for  flags  on  the  sideways  of  streets.  It  is  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  all  the  gneiss  districts. 

Primordial  limestone  is  found  in  this  part  of  the  series, 
but  is  not  constant  to  it.  In  some  instances  it  has  been  called 
saccharine  limestone,  from  its  white  granular  resemblance 
to  loaf  sugar.  It  is  the  material  used  for  statuary  marbles, 
the  most  valuable  beds  of  which,  those  that  are  unmixed  with 
siliceous  particles,  are  very  rare.  Immense  blocks,  weighing 
several  tons,  have  been  sometimes  transported  from  Italy  to 
England  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  single  statue,  which,  on 
account  of  the  nests  of  siliceous  matter  found  in  them,  have 
proved  almost  valueless  when  worked  into.  No  extensive 
deposites  of  it  of  a  good  quality  have  yet  been  found  in  the 
United  States.  There  are  many  varieties  of  this  saccharine 
limestone,  however,  here.  It  sometimes  contains  mica,  and  is 


Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  29 

subordinate  to  the  statuary  marble  :  this  is  the  variety  called 
cipolino.  In  Connecticut  extensive  veined  beds  occur,  trav- 
ersed by  serpentine.  In  Maryland,  several  varieties  occur, 
and  amongst  others  a  paste  of  fine  saccharine  limestone,  im- 
bedding crystals  of  hornblende,  resembling  that  mentioned  by 
Mr.  McCulloch*  in  the  Isle  of  Tirey,  Hebrides. 

Hornblende  rock  abounds  in  this  country  on  the  Atlantic 
frontier,  sometimes  dark  and  compact,  with  a  granular  texture, 
at  other  times  greenish,  with  a  fibrous  structure,  and  disposed 
to  fissility  ;  it  is  sometimes  micaceous,  and  near  Wilmington, 
at  Quarry  ville,  on  the  Delaware,  a  locality  which  has  supplied 
the  greater  part  of  the  materials  for  the  Delaware  break- 
water, there  is  a  beautiful  resplendent  variety  of  ovate 
lamellar  crystals  of  felspar,  having  a  slightish  red  color,  with 
a  hornblende  base,  which  fuses  into  a  fine  dark  enamel.  This 
is  a  true  porphyritic  greenstone. 

The  talcose  slates  have  a  base  of  talc,  with  mica  and  crys- 
tals of  sulphuret  of  iron  diffused  in  them  ;  they  are  easily 
recognisable  by  their  unctuous  touch  and  glossy  appearance. 
In  the  United  States  these  slates  are  largely  developed  in 
what  is  called  the  gold  region,  especially  in  Virginia,  the 
gold  being  in  the  ferruginous  quartzose  veins  which  traverse 
this  formation. 

The  Germans  have  called  all  combinations  of  hornblende 
and  felspar,  when  they  have  a  granite  structure,  grllnstein 
or  greenstone  rocks,  and  accordingly,  as  they  are  compact  or 
fissile  in  their  structure,  they  have  been  designated  as  primi- 
tive greenstone  or  greenstone  slate.  Hornblende  is  heavier 
than  quartz  or  felspar,  and,  when  scratched,  gives  a  light 
green  streak,  and  where  it  forms  the  principal  part  of  rocks, 
they  take  a  greenish  black  color.  In  hornblende  slates  the 
felspar  itself  is  often  green.  When  the  quantity  of  magnesia 
is  increased  in  the  hornblende  rocks,  they  appear  to  pass  in- 

*  McCulIoch's  Western  Islands,  vol.  1,  page  50. 


SO  Feather  stonhaugk^s  Geological  Report. 

sensibly  into  serpentine,  a  rock  which  abounds  in  this  country 
in  the  region  of  the  primordial  rocks. 

The  geological  student,  in  entering  the  field  of  observation 
in  the  United  States,  will  find  that  the  varieties  of  all  the 
formations  which  have  been  alluded  to  are  very  numerous, 
and  that  they  occasionally  succeed  each  other  in  so  irregular 
a  manner  as  to  preclude  the  supposition  that  they  have  come 
into  their  places  in  any  determinate  order  of  succession. 
Regarding  them  theoretically  as  the  products  of  igneous  fusion, 
the  embarrassment  is  increased  by  perceiving  some  of  them  to 
be  unstratified,  and  others  stratified.  That  the  first  may  have 
resulted  from  the  cooling  down  of  mineral  matter  when  in  a 
state  of  igneous  intumescence,  is  intelligible  enough ;  but  that 
contiguous  rocks,  having  the  same  origin,  and  which  form 
perhaps  the  greater  portion  of  the  surface,  should  be  disposed 
in  parallel  strata,  is  not  so  easily  explained.  Yet,  if  any  one 
should  be  disposed  to  attribute  to  them  the  same  aqueous 
origin  to  which  the  sedimentary  stratified  rocks  are  referred, 
he  must  remember  not  only  that  the  mineral  constituents  of 
those  unstratified  and  stratified  masses  are  the  same,  but  that 
most  of  them  actually  pass  into  each  other  by  the  absence  or 
presence  of  one  or  more  of  their  mineral  constituents.  What 
has  been  called  the  stratification  of  these  ignigenous  rocks, 
may  be  owing  to  the  principle  which  occasions  their  fissility, 
such  as  the  distribution  of  the  plates  of  mica  parallel  to  the 
strata.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  nature  of  the  primor- 
dial rocks  has  yet  to  be  carefully  studied  before  we  can,  with 
perfect  satisfaction,  believe  this  difference  between  them  to 
be  due  to  modifying  causes,  and  refer  these  two  classes  of 
rocks  to  the  same  origin. 

Much  of  the  irregularity  with  which  they  succeed  to  each 
other  is  owing  in  some  cases  to  the  same  mineral  compound 
being  repeated  in  distant  localities,  and  in  others  to  slight 
variations  of  that  compound.  Most  of  these  ignigenous  masses 
appear  in  the  character  of  intrusive  bodies.  Granite,  the 


Featherstonhaugh^s  Geological  Report.  31 

lowest  rock  in  the  series,  is  found  in  a  modified  form  overly- 
ing fossiliferous  strata  in  the  Alps.  Serpentine,  which  is  but 
a  modification  of  hornblende  matter,  overlies  sedimentary 
limestone  in  extensive  tracts  of  the  Appenines,  and  trap 
rocks,  of  which  modern  lavas  are  but  modifications,  are  found 
injected  into  almost  every  formation,  from  the  granite  up  to 
the  surface  ;  indeed,  in  the  extinct  volcanoes  of  Auvergne,  the 
ancient  lavas  have  been  clearly  projected  from  beneath  the 
granite. 

There  is  another  important  rock,  clay  slate,  not  inserted  in 
the  tabular  view,  which  is  thought  to  pass  gradually  into  some 
of  the  schistose  primordial  masses  with  which  it  is  associated  ; 
yet  it  is  a  stratified  body,  and  in  its  mineral  structure  is  some- 
times hardly  distinguishable  from  the  roofing  slates,  which 
are  enumerated  amongst  the  sedimentary  deposites  of  what 
have  been  called  the  transition  beds. 

These  observations  on  the  formations  of  the  inferior  divi- 
sion are  offered  not  only  for  the  assistance  of  the  geological 
student,  but  in  some  degree  to  incite  the  able  mineralogists 
of  this  country  who  reside  in  the  regions  of  the  primordial 
rocks,  to  make  a  precise  and  analytic  study  of  their  mineral 
structure  and  constituent  affinity  with  each  other,  and  to  note 
all  the  circumstances  attending  the  order  in  which  they  are 
seen  to  succeed  and  overlie  each  other.  Repeated  observa- 
tions made  in  various  parts  of  the  Atlantic  frontier,  will  pro- 
duce a  great  deal  of  valuable  information.  By  such  means 
alone,  we  shall  be  able  to  compare  the  natural  order  and  con- 
stituency of  the  primordial  rocks  of  the  United  States  with 
those  which  prevail  in  distant  countries  ;  and  thus,  in  time,  a 
unity  of  intellect  may  be  directed  to  the  development  of  the 
most  ancient  parts  of  the  structure  of  the  accessible  portions 
of  the  earth,  and  of  some  principles  connected  with  the  min- 
eral and  metallic  bodies,  that  cannot  fail  to  be  valuable  in  an 
economical  point  of  view. 


32  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

We  now  approach  a  system  of  rocks  usually  found  overlying 
the  inferior  division,  and  where  organic  remains  are  for  the  first 
time  found  in  the  ascending  series.  Perhaps  the  formation 
alluded  to  as  clay  slate  belongs  properly  to  this  system, 
the  general  mineral  structure  of  which  is  altogether  slaty. 
The  whole  of  this  series  of  rocks  (a  luminous  account  of 
which  will  soon  be  published  by  the  Rev.  Adam  Sedgwick, 
under  the  designation  of  the  Cambrian  system,  from  the 
locality  where  he  has  principally  studied  them)  has  been 
hitherto  included,  together  with  the  Silurian  system  of  Mr. 
Murchison,  under  the  undefined  names  of  transition  and  grau- 
wacke,  terms  which  are  now  likely  to  be  entirely  abandoned. 
Before  this  portion  of  the  geological  column  had  been  ade- 
quately investigated,  the  theoretical  term  transition  was  gen- 
erally received.  It  was  supposed  that  at  the  point  where 
organic  remains  first  appeared,  there  existed  a  true  natural 
mineral  transition  from  inorganic  to  organic  rocks ;  and  if  that 
point  were  established,  the  term  would  not  be  misapplied  to 
those  slaty  masses.  But  the  affinity  of  the  mineral  structure  of 
some  of  these  rocks  with  that  of  others  higher  up  in  the  series 
caused  the  term  to  be  extended  so  far  beyond  its  original  mean- 
ing and  application,  as  to  comprehend  deposites  of  from  thirty  to 
forty  thousand  feet  in  thickness ;  and  although  this  great  slaty 
system  was  separated  from  the  carboniferous  limestone  by  the 
old  red  sandstone  formation,  itself  having  a  thickness  of  ten 
thousand  feet  and  more  in  many  localities,  yet  some  geologists 
included  all  these  formations,  together  with  the  carboniferous 
limestone,  containing  a  distinct  class  of  organic  remains,  in 
the  transition  rocks.  Henceforward,  it  is  probable  that  the 
term  will  fall  into  disuse,  in  proportion  as  the  nomenclatures 
applied  to  the  Cambrian  and  Silurian  systems  shall  become 
generally  known,  they  having  already  received  the  sanction 
of  the  leading  European  geologists. 

The  lower  Cambrian  of  the  tabular  view,  as  it  has  been 
observed  in  Caernarvonshire,  consists  principally  of  chlorite 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  33 

schists,  passing  occasionally  into  micaceous  and  quartzose 
slates,  and  contains  subordinate  masses  of  white  granular  lime- 
stone and  serpentine  rock.  In  other  localities,  masses  of  dark 
glossy  clay  slate,  devoid  of  calcareous  matter,  are  found,  and 
passing  into  the  inferior  primordial  rocks.  This  lower  Cam- 
brian formation  appears  to  contain  no  organic  remains,  but 
lead  and  copper  are  found  in  it. 

The  middle  Cambrian  of  Caernarvon  and  Merionethshires 
contains  great  quantities  of  fine  roofing  slate,  often  imbedded 
in  slate  rocks  of  a  coarser  quality  ;  these  alternate  with  and 
apparently  pass  into  irregularly  interstratified  masses  of  por- 
phyry. At  the  top  of  Snowdon  a  few  organic  remains  are 
found,  resembling  others  observed  at  Tintagel,  in  Cornwall. 
Some  of  these  slates  are  highly  calcareous,  but  no  continuous 
beds  of  limestone  have  been  observed  amongst  them. 

The  upper  Cambrian,  as  observed  in  South  Wales,  is  con- 
nected with  the  superincumbent  formation  of  Llandeilo  flags. 
Beds  of  limestone  and  calcareous  slates  occur,  together  with 
organic  remains.  The  roofing  slate  of  this  division  splits  in  a 
direction  transverse  to  the  stratification,  which  is  a  property 
perhaps  of  all  hard  slates.  The  cleavage  of  this  mineral  is 
considered  to  be  the  effect  of  crystallization. 

The  Llandeilo  flags .  The  Silurian  system,  of  which  this 
is  the  lowest  division,  abounds  much  more  in  calcareous  mat- 
ter than  the  rocks  just  enumerated,  and  organic  remains  are 
more  common.  These  Llandeilo  flags  rest  upon  the  Longmynd 
various-colored  sandstones,  conglomerates,  schists,  and  coarse 
slates,  and  are  dark-colored  calcareous  rocks,  naturally  sepa- 
rating into  flags.  They  contain,  also,  some  sandstone  and 
schists.  The  asaphus  buchii,  the  agnostus,  Brongn,  and  some 
other  trilobites,  differing  from  those  of  the  superior  divisions, 
which  will  be  described  in  Mr.  Murchison's  work  on  the 
Silurian  system,  now  in  the  press,  are  found  here. 
3 


34  Feather stonhaugli's  Geological  Report. 

The  Caradoc  beds.*  The  beds  of  this  division  consist,  in 
the  lower  part,  of  thick-bedded  red,  purple,  green,  and  white 
freestones,  conglomeritic  quartzose  grits,  and  sandy  and  gritty 
limestones.  Various  undescribed  species  of  trilobites,  and 
differing  from  those  in  the  overlying  beds  ;  numerous  species 
of  the  genus  orthis,  together  with  nucula  and  pentamerus,  are 
found  here.  The  upper  beds  are  thin-bedded  impure  shelly 
limestone,  and  finely-laminated,  slightly-micaceous,  greenish 
sandstone.  The  organic  remains  are  pentamerus,  leptsena, 
pileopsis,  and  orthis,  all  of  new  species.  There  are  also  tere- 
bratula ;  and  the  tentaculites  and  crinoidea  are  abundant ; 
corals  rare. 

Wenlock  limestone  and  shale.  The  lower  beds  are  liver 
and  dark  gray  colored  argillaceous  shale,  rarely  micaceous,  with 
nodules  of  earthy  limestone.  The  organic  remains  are  as- 
aphus  caud,  calymene  Blumenbachii,  lingula,  orthis,  cyrtia, 
delthyris,  orthocera,  crinoidea ;  most  of  them  new  species. 

The  upper  beds  are  that  highly  concretionary  gray  and 
blue  subcrystalline  limestone,  the  equivalent  of  the  well- 
known  Dudley  limestone ;  abounding  with  corals  and  crino- 
idea, bellerophon,  euomphalus,  conularia,  pentamerus,  natica, 
leptaena,  spirifer,  terebratula,  producta,  orthocera,  asaphus, 
calymene,  and  various  species  of  trilobites. 

Ludlow  rocks.  The  lower  beds  of  this  formation  are  sandy, 
liver  and  dark  colored  shale  and  flags,  with  concretions  of 

*  Mr.  Murchison,  in  conformity  with  the  practice  of  attaching  the  names  of 
remakable  localities  to  their  rocks  when  first  described,  has  here  very  happily 
associated  some  of  the  most  interesting  traits  of  British  Celtic  history  with  his 
geological  labors.  The  rocks  comprehended  in  his  Silurian  system  were  ob- 
served by  him  in  that  part  of  the  country  which  constituted  the  ancient  king- 
dom of  the  Silures,  that  Celtic  nation  which  so  bravely  resisted  the  Romans 
under  the  Emperors  Claudius  and  Nero.  Caer  Caradoc,  from  whence  the 
Caradoc  beds  are  named,  is  the  name  of  a  highly  picturesque  ridge  in  Shrop- 
shire. Camden,  the  historian,  supposes  it  to  have  been  the  locality  where  the 
celebrated  leader  of  the  Silures,  Caractacus,  (Caradoc,)  made  his  last  stand 
against  the  Roman  forces. 


Feathcrstonhaugh^s  Geological  Report.  35 

earthy  limestone.  The  several  species  of  fossils  are  phrag- 
moceras  a  new  genus,  asaphus,  two  species  of  cardiola,  (a  new 
genus,)  nautilus,  spirulites,  pentamerus,  pleurotomaria,  ortho- 
cera,  &c.  ;  most  of  them  new  species. 

These  beds  are  separated  from  the  upper  ones  by  a  sub- 
crystalliae  gray  and  blue  argillaceous  limestone,  containing 
pentamerus,  pileopsis,  bellerophon,  lingula,  atrypa,  terebra- 
tula,  calamopora,  and  some  other  fossil  corals.  The  upper 
beds  are  a  slightly-micaceous,  gray-colored,  thin-bedded  sand- 
stone, containing  avicula,  atrypa,  cypricardia,  homonolotus, 
(a  new  genus,)  leptsena,  orthis,  orbicula,  orthocera,  pleuroto- 
maria, turbo,  with  gigantic  serpentine  bodies,  &c.* 

It  sometimes  occurs  that  the  zones  of  limestone  which  sepa- 
rate the  Wenlock  and  Ludlow  divisions  thin  out  and  disap- 
pear :  in  such  cases,  the  characteristic  division  being  lost,  Mr. 
Murchison  calls  the  united  mass  u  the  upper  Silurian  rocks ;" 
and  where  the  same  characteristic  division  between  the  Llan- 
deilo  and  Caradoc  beds  disappears,  their  united  mass  is  termed 
the  "  lower  Silurian  rocks." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  formations  which  have  been 
briefly  described  comprehend  all  the  deposites  lying  between 
the  old  red  sandstone  and  the  primordial  rocks,  and  that  some 
of  them  must  necessarily  be  the  equivalents  of  those  grauwacke 
rocks  which,  in  all  the  hitherto  published  geological  treatises, 
figure  so  conspicuously,  but  in  a  very  undefined  manner,  as 
immediately  subjacent  to  the  old  red  sandstone,  which  last, 
notwithstanding  its  vast  bulk,  has  been  considered  by  an  ex- 
perienced and  popular  geological  writerf  as  a  true  grau- 

*  Mr.  Murchisor.'s  Fossils  of  the  Silurian  System,  when  published,  will  add 
weight  to  the  opinion  expressed  in  my  report  of  1835,  of  the  "  great  uni- 
formity of  the  genera  in  the  inferior  rocks  of  both  hemispheres."  He  has 
compared  some  of  the  fossils  of  this  country  with  those  of  his  Silurian  system, 
and  says,  in  a  late  letter,  "  many  of  your  organic  remains  are  specifically 
identical." 

f  Bakewell. 

3* 


36  Feather  slonhaugli's  Geological  Report. 

wacke  also.  The  same  objections  which  apply  to  the  term 
transition,  apply  to  the  term  grauwacke.  The  different  form- 
ations of  the  Silurian  and  Cambrian  systems  are  distin- 
guished by  fossil  remains  peculiar  to  each  of  them,  and  noth- 
ing would  more  retard  the  progress  of  scientific  perspicuity, 
than  to  retain  an  inharmonious  term  which  is  hardly  definable, 
merely  because  certain  rocks  having  an  affinity  in  mineral 
structure  are  found  repeated  in  various  parts  of  them.  The 
term  grauwacke  seems  originally  to  have  been  used  by 
the  miners  as  a  provincial  word  to  express  the  character  of 
those  conglomeritic  beds  formed  of  gravelly  fragments  of 
various  sizes  of  the  older  rocks,  imbedded  in  a  paste  of  slaty 
matter,  which  are  even  occasionally  found  in  the  coal  meas- 
ures, and  which  abound  sufficiently  in  the  formations  sub- 
jacent to  the  carboniferous  limestone,  to  justify  the  belief  that 
an  immense  period  of  time  must  have  elapsed  between  the 
first  appearance  of  these  conglomeritic  beds  and  the  deposite 
of  the  carboniferous  limestone.  We  can  no  longer,  however, 
with  any  propriety,  retain  this  term  for  the  beds  immediately 
subjacent  to  the  old  red  sandstone,  since  Mr.  Murchison  shows 
that  his  Silurian  system,  in  which  those  beds  are  compre- 
hended, contain  few  if  any  of  those  beds  which  were  first 
named  grauwacke  by  the  German  mineralogists.  This  term, 
if  at  all  continued,  will  probably  be  restricted  hereafter  to 
some  of  the  beds  of  the  Cambrian  system. 

Old  red  sandstone.  Mr.  Murchison  proposes  to  divide  this 
formation  into  three  parts  :  the  lowest  consists  of  flaggy,  high- 
ly-micaceous, hard,  red  and  green  sandstone,  with  some  new 
species  of  avicula,  pileopsis,  some  small  orthocera  and  ichthy- 
odorulites.  The  central  portion  is  formed  of  red  and  green 
concretionary  limestones,  with  spotted  argillaceous  marls  and 
beds  of  sandstone,  containing  undescribed  genera  of  Crustacea. 
The  superior  portion  is  an  inorganic  quartzose  conglomerate, 
overlying  thick-bedded  sandstone. 


Feather 'stonhaugh^s   Geological  Report.  37 

As  the  formations  hitherto  considered  have  a  character  be- 
longing to  them  which  is  not  common  to  the  incumbent  beds, 
especially  on  this  continent,  a  few  remarks  here  on  the  highly- 
inclined  strata  of  the  stratified  masses  serving  to  develop  some 
important  principles  of  the  science,  cannot  but  be  useful  to 
the  practical  student. 

In  every  part  of  the  world  where  geological  investigations 
have  been  made,  the  rocks  hitherto  enumerated  have  gene- 
rally been  found,  and  always  in  the  same  determinate  order, 
with  the  exception  of  that  occasional  irregularity  before 
alluded  to  amongst  the  ignigenous  rocks.  They  occupy,  also, 
more  extensive  areas  than  the  rocks  which  have  succeeded 
to  them,  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  causes  which 
produced  them  were  more  intensely  in  action.  Granite  is 
every  where.  The  body  of  the  great  Himalaya  chain  in  India 
is  gneiss  ;  it  abounds  also  in  the  most  northern  known  lands, 
in  the  Andes,  the  Alps,  and  the  Pyrenees.  In  western  Africa 
the  rocks  forming  the  banks  of  the  Rokelle  are  granite,  gneiss, 
mica  slate,  and  the  lower  slates.  Upon  the  northern  Atlantic 
frontier  of  the  United  States,  the  whole  series  of  these  last- 
mentioned  §  rocks  can  be  traced,  alternating  variously  with 
each  other,  uninterruptedly  to  the  western  lines  of  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  with  the  exception  of  the  carboniferous 
sandstone  along  the  line  of  the  Connecticut  river.  Further 
south,  the  same  zone  of  primordial  rocks  is  to  be  observed 
from  the  falls  of  the  rivers  that  empty  into  the  Atlantic,  to  the 
extensive  Atlantic*  primary  chain,  embracing  those  auriferous 

*  In  my  report  oflast  year,  at  page  33,  the  necessity  of  giving  a  general  name  to 
this  chain  was  urged,  on  account  of  the  confusion  produced  by  the  various  desig- 
nations it  receives  in  different  localities,  such  as  Blue  ridge,  Alleghany  mountain, 
Iron  mountain,  Unaka,  &c.;  and  Atlantic  Primary  Chain  was  proposed  as  express- 
ing its  general  and  predominant  character.  The  mineral  structure  of  this  chain 
has  never  been  thoroughly  examined,  but,  at  numerous  points  where  I  have  visited 
it,  it  varies  from  the  primordial  rocks  to  some  of  the  members  of  the  Silurian  sys- 
tem. At  West  Point,  where  it  is  divided  by  the  Hudson  river,  the  predominant 
character  is  gneiss ;  at  Harper's  Ferry  3  it  is  a  variety  of  stratified  slates;  in  Madison 


38  Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

slates  and  other  rocks  known  as  the  gold  region  of  the  United 
States. 

Wherever  the  geological  student  finds  the  strata  thrown  out 
of  the  horizontal  line,  and  dipping  in  any  direction,  he  may? 
with  few  exceptions,  enumerate  such  beds  amongst  the  forma- 
tions hitherto  described,  the  old  red  sandstone  inclusive.  Few 

county,  Virginia,  it  consists  of  the  members  of  the  lower  Cambrian  rocks,  very  much 
studded  with  points  ef  native  copper,  with  a  belt  of  porphyritic  granite  running 
at  its  eastern  base.  In  other  parts  of  this  chain  I  have  observed  quartzose  sand- 
stones and  conglomerates  prevailing,  of  undoubted  aqueous  origin  ;  whilst  in  some 
districts,  slates  of  a  green  quartzose  character  contain,  imbedded  and  mixed  up  and 
alternating  with  them,  true  porphyritic  masses.  This  admixture  of  rocks,  to  which 
different  origins  are  attributed,  appeared  to  me  to  justify  a  designation  for  this 
chain  which  expressed,  in  some  degree,  its  predominant  mineral  character.  The 
only  proper  use  which  those  who  write  on  this  subject,  at  present,  can  make  of 
theoretical  terms,  is  to  give  the  greatest  degree  of  perspicuity  to  what  they  say. 
The  terms  primary  and  primordial  are,  undoubtedly,  always  very  properly  applied 
to  the  lower  rocks,  to  which  an  igneous  origin  has  been  attributed  ;  but  may  fairly 
be  extended  to  any  series  of  rocks  constituting  a  great  geographical  boundary,  to 
which  they  give  a  predominating  character,  especially  at  a  period  when  the  term 
Transition  is  passing  into  disuse,  and  leaves  the  term  Primary  freed  from  theoret- 
ical views,  to  class  all  the  rocks  in  below  the  secondary  order.  I  have  felt 
myself  authorized  to  do  this  by  the  example  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
of  this  age.  Professor  Sedgwick,  of  Cambridge,  England,  in  his  "  Introduction 
to  the  general  structure  of  the  Cambrian  mountains,"  (Transactions  of  the  Geo- 
logical Society  of  London,  vol.  4,  part  1,  page  66,)  observes:  "  I  beMeve,  how- 
ever, that  there  is  a  broad  mineralogical  distinction  between  the  primary  stratified 
rocks  (including  under  that  term  all  stratified  rocks  inferior  to  the  old  red  sand- 
stone) and  the  secondary/'  Professor  Phillips,  also,  the  able  and  experienced 
Professor  of  Geology  in  King's  College,  London,  has,  in  his  Guide  to  Geology, 
page  19,  classed  all  the  rocks  beneath  the  old  red  sandstone  as  "  Primary  strata," 
adding,  "  It  is  usual  to  class  the  upper  systems  under  the  title  of  Transition  strata,, 
and  to  confine  the  name  of  Primary  to  the  mica,  schist,  and  gneiss  systems."  And 
at  page  72,  he  says  :  "  Thus,  for  example,  of  the  extinct  crustaceous  animals,  call- 
ed Trilobites,  the  far  greater  portion  of  those  found  in  England  belongs  to  the 
primary  strata.  They  ako  characterize  the  primary  system  of  North  America." 
In  fact,  he  generally  speaks  of  the  beds  beneath  the  carboniferous  group  as  the 
"  fossiliferous  primary  strata,"  and,  at  page  124,  distinctly  includes  all  the  beds  of 
whatever  kind,  constituting  what,  on  account  of  its  geographical  situation  princi- 
pally, I  had  named  "  Atlantic  primary  chain,"  in  the  following  passage.  "  The 
older  strata  are  now  very  generally  called  primary,  and  an  indefinite  upper  group 
or  portion  of  them  is,,  by  many  geologists,,  called  the  Transition  series,  a&  marking 


Feather stonhaugfr  s  Geological  Report.  39 

of  the  rocks  of  the  United  States  lying  above  them  in  the 
geological  column,  are  found  with  the  planes  of  their  strata 
making  any  sensible  angle  with  the  horizon  ;  and  as  all  strati- 
tied  masses  must  be  supposed  to  have  been  deposited  with 
their  planes  horizontal,  we  are  necessarily  compelled  to  in- 
quire why  the  beds  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  column  dip 
at  very  acute  angles,  and  are  frequently  found  vertical,  when 

a  passage  from  the  primary  to  the  secondary  strata.  This  is  perhaps  needless,  for 
such  passages  are  not  thought  necessary  to  be  marked  in  other  instances.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  upper  primary  (transition)  strata  of  England  and  Wales  has 
been  very  much  augmented  by  the  recent  labors  of  Mr.  Murchison."  In  speaking 
of  the  lowest  crystalline  rocks,  I  have  used,  generally,  the  term  Primordial  as 
expressing  their  place  in  the  column,  and  being  free  from  all  theoretical  allusion. 

I  have  been  induced  to  make  these  observations  by  seeing,  in  a  geological 
report,  made  early  in  the  present  year,  on  the  geology  of  Virginia,  by  a  per- 
son in  the  service  of  that  State,  a  remark,  arising  out  of  the  designation  I  had 
applied  to  this  chain,  expressive  of  his  deep  regret  that  Mr.  McClure,  with  others, 
including  myself,  should  "  have  indulged  so  much  of  the  spirit  of  superficial  and 
precipitate  generalization."  I  shall  not  express  myself,  with  that  writer,  that  it  is 
"  deeply  to  be  regretted"  that  he  should  thus  voluntarily  have  exposed  his  want  of 
information  on  the  state  of  the  science,  as  we  have  too  many  instances  of  persons, 
engaged  in  a  new  pursuit,  endeavoring  to  draw  the  public  attention  from  their  own 
deficiencies  by  rash  and  silly  insinuations  against  those  who  have  preceded  them. 
Some  more  experience  as  a  practical  geologist  may,  in  the  end,  teach  him  that  an 
official  report,  at  least,  is  not  the  proper  place  from  whence  to  cast  imputations  at 
his  senior  fellow-laborers,  and  that  he  who  commits  so  great  an  error  incurs  the 
risk  of  being  deemed  both  superficial  and  presumptuous.  It  is  to  the  honor  of  my 
friend  Mr.  McClure,  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  disinterested  geologists  this 
country  ever  possessed,  and  who  is  now  in  a  distant  country,  that  his  lucid  under- 
standing applied  a  designation,  years  ago,  when  the  science  was  first  raising  its 
head  here,  to  the  district  in  question,  which  is  now  found  to  be  perfectly  appropriate. 
The  decorum  I  feel  bound  to  observe  upon  this  occasion,  restrains  me  from  remark- 
ing further  upon  the  impropriety  of  converting  the  geological  literature  of  this 
country  into  a  vehicle  for  impeding  the  progress  of  geological  information.  To 
make  the  geology  of  the  United  States  clearly  out,  there  ought  to  be  a  unity  of  pur- 
pose amongst  our  geologists,  and  a  perfect  harmony  of  conduct.  But,  returning  to 
the  designation  which  occasioned  this  note,  I  think,  for  the  various  reasons  which 
have  been  given,  that  the  term  Atlantic  primary  chain  is  well  adapted  ;  yet  if,  after 
a  more  minute  investigation  of  the  chain  in  its  full  extent — which  I  hope  to  accom- 
plish hereafter — it  shall  be  found  that  the  sedimentary  rocks  predominate,  which  I 
do  not  believe,  the  term  Atlantic  chain  may  still  be  preserved,  since  it  fronts  the 
Atlantic,  and  differs  from  all  the  other  Alleghany  ridges  in  its  mineral  structure. 


40  Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report, 

the  others  are  horizontal.  The  inference  is  obvious  that  some 
disturbing  cause  operating  from  below  has  thus  tilted  these 
beds  up,  and  that  it  prevailed  with  greater  intensity  and  con- 
stancy during  the  earlier  geological  periods  than  it  has  done 
since  the  deposition  of  the  old  red  sandstone.  This  striking 
difference  in  the  position  of  the  planes  of  mineral  beds  be- 
longs to  a  class  of  geological  phenomena  so  various  and  im- 
portant, that  it  is  proper  in  this  place  to  mention  some  of 
them,  that  the  student,  from  perceiving  how  cognate  they  are 
to  each  other,  may  form  his  judgment  as  to  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  cause  to  which  their  common  origin  has  been  at- 
tributed. It  will  also  afford  an  opportunity  of  alluding  to  some 
complicated  cases  under  which  rocks  sometimes  present 
themselves,  and  which,  being  deceptive,  require  accurate 
observation. 

In  diagram  No.  2,  the  transverse  lines  making  an  angle  of 
45  degrees  with  the  horizon,  represent  the  beds  formerly  de- 
posited in  a  horizontal  plane,  tilted  up.  Such  rocks  are  said 
to  dip  45  degrees,  and  this  slope  of  their  planes  often  in- 
creases until  they  are  set  completely  upon  their  edges,  and 
become  vertical  or  perpendicular.  But  at  whatever  degree 
they  may  dip,  the  uppermost  edges  of  the  beds  thus  tilted  up 
always  have  the  same  strike  or  direction.  When  they  dip  to 
the  east,  their  edges  of  course  run  north  and  south.  This 
phenomenon  is  a  source  of  constant  annoyance  to  those  who- 
travel  on  wheels  in  the  Shenandoah  valley  of  Virginia, 
where  the  roads,  running  nearly  east  and  west,  cross  the 
edges  of  the  upheaved  limestone  beds  at  right  angles.  It  will 
not  escape  the  reader  that  in  countries  where  the  dip,  as  fre- 
quently occurs,  is  constant  through  a  great  area  of  country, 
the  strike  of  the  beds,  being  known,  may  be  useful  to  travellers 
in  doubtful  cases,  and  in  the  dark,  in  pursuing  their  course. 

Amongst  the  instances  where  a  student  is  apt  to  be  de- 
ceived by  the  appearance  of  stratified  beds,  if  observed  at  a 
distance,  or  whilst  rapidly  passing  them,  is  that  of  his  being 


Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  41 

led  to  suppose  he  is  among  the  secondary  beds,  whilst  in  fact 
they  are  highly  inclined.  He  may  be  passing  an  escarpment 
from  the  north,  where  the  stratification,  as  in  diagram  No.  3, 
appears  to  be  horizontal,  whilst  in  truth  it  may  be  highly- 
inclined  :  therefore,  if,  whilst  in  a  region  where  the  beds  have 
a  constant  dip,  he  should  unexpectedly  come  to  a  section  of 
them  where  they  appear  to  be  horizontal,  it  is  always  best  to 
stop  and  examine  with  some  care,  as,  at  some  turn  of  the 
line,  or  perhaps  by  partially  uncovering  them,  he  may  dis- 
cover that  the  strata  have  a  considerable  dip,  as  is  exhibited 
in  the  diagram.* 

The  valley  of  the  Potomac  exhibits  a  great  number  of  in- 
structive phenomena  connected  with  the  dip  of  rocks,  which 
furnish  examples,  upon  a  very  large  scale,  of  the  singular 
manner  in  which  the  causes  to  which  they  may  be  attributed 
have  operated  upon  the  whole  line  from  the  southeast  edge 
of  the  great  western  bituminous  coal  field  to  Georgetown,  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles, 
and  a  still  greater  distance  north  and  south  of  the  valley. 
All  the  beds,  with  unimportant  exceptions,  seem  to  be  dis- 
posed into  anticlinal  and  synclinal  lines. f  But  of  these  I 
shall  give  some  interesting  instances  when  I  come  to  speak  of 
my  excursion  up  that  valley  on  my  way  to  the  Northwest 
Territory  last  summer. 

*  At  the  top  of  Cacapon  mountain,  about  three  miles  from  Bath,  in  Morgan 
county,  Virginia,  there  is  a  remarkable  locality  called  "  Prospect  Rock." 
From  the  summit  of  this  escarpment  there  is  a  very  extensive  view  of  the 
course  of  the  Potomac  river  across  the  inclined  beds  of  the  country  from  the 
great  Alleghany  mountain,  where  the  bituminous  coal  measures  begin.  On  de- 
scending to  the  foot  of  this  cliff,  and  standing  in  front  of  the  escarpment,  the 
beds  appear  horizontal ;  but  at  the  pass  which  leads  down  from  the  top,  they 
are  seen  to  be  tilted  up  about  18  degrees. 

f  The  first  of  which  terms  is  used  to  express  a  line  created  by  a  dip  of 
the  same  beds  in  opposite  directions.  Thus,  a  set  of  beds  which  in  one  part 
of  a  given  area  of  country  whose  general  planes  are  horizontal,  and  which 
lie  as  at  A,  in  diagram  No.  4,  might,  in  another  part  of  the  same  area,  take 
the  form  of  B,  which  is  anticlinal. 


42  Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

There  is  another  case  of  complication  connected  with  the 
inclined  beds,  which  the  student  will  easily  see  the  great 
importance  of.  Rocks  whose  planes  are  horizontal,  or  in  any 
manner  parallel  to  each  other,  are  called  conformable,  but  it 
frequently  occurs  that  they  are  unconformable  to  each  other. 
Diagram  No.  5  will  give  an  example  of  this.  Here  the  stra- 
tum, a  may  represent  the  new  red  sandstone  (see  the  tabular 
view)  at  the  surface  ;  and  as  it  most  frequently,  when  found, 
lies  superimposed  on  the  bituminous  coal  measures,  it  would 
be  consistent  with  practical  and  theoretical  knowledge  to  dig 
through  it  at  N  for  coal,  the  true  position  of  which  may  be  at  b. 
In  this  case,  the  miners,  beginning  midway  of  the  diagram, 
and  sinking  their  shafts  o  o  o  o  towards  N,  might  come  upon 
the  strata,  e,  /,  g,  &,  which  lie  at  a  great  angle  to  a,  and  are 
unconformable  to  it,  having  been  tilted  up  into  this  inclination 
before  the  horizontal  beds,  a,  6,  c,  d,  were  deposited.  All 
this  expense  would  be  wasted  by  unskilful  persons ;  but  an 
experienced  miner,  acquainted  with  practical  geology,  and 
understanding  the  reason  of  this  deficiency  of  the  intervening 
beds,  6,  c,  c?,  beyond  the  point  +,  would  sink  through  a  further 
towards  S,  and  thus  be  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  6, 
containing  coal  veins  in  their  regular  position. 

The  stratified  inclined  rocks  comprehended  in  the  Cam- 
brian and  Silurian  systems  of  Europe,  which  have  been 
spoken  of,  have  many  of  their  proper  equivalents  in  the 
various  formations  which  occur  up  the  valley  of  the  Potomac, 
between  the  great  falls  of  that  river  and  the  southeast  edge 
of  the  great  Western  coal  field,  and  whose  beds  have  been 
hitherto  alluded  to  by  geological  writers,  as  constituting  the 
transition  and  grauwacke  rocks  of  the  Alleghany  ridges  and 
country  parallel  to  them  on  the  southeast.  The  inspection  of 
this  valley  is  highly  favorable  to  the  acquisition  of  just  views 
respecting  the  geological  structure  of  those  numerous  ridges, 
sometimes  continuous,  sometimes  interrupted,  sometimes  flex- 
uous,  and  generally  anticlinal.  An  accurate  knowledge  of  their 


Feather stonhaugh 's  Geological  Report.  43 

mineral  structure  and  true  magnetic  direction  would  be  of 
singular  importance  to  the  country.  No  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  which  I  have  visited  appears  to  me 
so  complicated  in  its  geological  structure,  or  is  certainly 
so  little  known,  as  the  area  in  question,  within  which  all  the 
important  beds  of  anthracite  coat  are  found,  and  which  has 
been  supposed,*  but  I  believe  erroneously,  to  embrace  a  por- 
tion of  the  bituminous  coal  field  of  the  Western  country. 

All  the  secondary  beds  of  this  portion  of  North  America, 
which  are  not  reached  by  tide-water,  are  limited  by  those 
ridges,  which  have  a  general  parallelism  to  each  other,  in  a 
direction  usually  about  N.  N.  E.  and  S.  S.  W.  It  is  a  re- 
markable circumstance,  deserving  much  weight  in  geologi- 
cal theory,  that  the  general  magnetic  range  of  all  the  transi- 
tion chains  of  Great  Britain,  of  the  south  of  Scotland,  of 
Devonshire  and  Cornwall,  of  Wales,  of  the  Isle  of  Anglesea, 
and  of  many  parts  of  the  European  and  other  portions  of  the 
trans-Atlantic  continent,  has  the  same  line  of  elevation,  the 
longitudinal  axes  of  the  principal  ridges  as  well  as  those  of 
the  minor  ones,  trending  nearly  from  N.  E.  to  S.  W.  and 
several  of  them  having  an  anticlinal  structure  ;  whilst  in  many 
situations  the  line  of  direction  of  the  carboniferous  limestone 
and  incumbent  coal  measures  is,  in  Great  Britain  as  well 
as  in  the  American  area  I  am  treating  of,  unconformable  to 
the  tilted  strata  below,  and  seldom  deviating  many  degrees 
from  a  horizontal  line.  These  parallel  ridges  come  down  from 
the  N.  N.  E.  through  the  Middle  States,  and  pursue  a  S.  S.  W. 
course,  until  they  are  cut  off  in  Tennessee  by  the  Cumber- 
land mountains,  the  true  eastern  limit  there  of  the  great  West- 
ern bituminous  coal  field.  In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  and 
in  Virginia  many  of  them  contain  rich  deposites  of  anthracite 
coal,  and  are  apparently  prolonged  to  the  south  in  a  contin- 
uous line,  and  without  material  interruption.  Yet  in  places 

*  See  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  coal  trade,  1834 -'5. 


44  Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

they  depart  from  their  parallelism  by  marked  deflections  from 
the  general  course.  Occasionally  a  ridge  will  slope  off  and 
be  discontinued,  its  place  being  supplied  by  another  ridge 
holding  the  same  parallel,  or  deviating  somewhat  from  it. 
Sometimes  by  a  sudden  flexure  they  almost  double  back,  and 
not  unfrequently  cross  the  valleys  at  right  angles  to  the  gene- 
ral parallel.  In  some  localities  the  beds  are  tilted  up  almost 
to  a  perpendicular  line,  in  others  they  are  anticlinal ;  some 
sections  of  them  give  the  perfect  form  of  an  arch,  and  oc- 
casionally they  are  contorted  and  twisted  in  an  undescri- 
bable  manner.  It  is  difficult  for  any  but  those  who  are  prac- 
tically conversant  with  the  complicated  state  of  the  geology 
of  this  area,  to  form  an  adequate  conception  of  the  labor  and 
experience  requisite  to  disentangle  the  complex  phenomena 
which  present  themselves  in  passing  through  any  sectional 
line  of  this  system  of  ridges.  Many  proprietors,  deceived  by 
the  apparent  continuity  of  a  particular  line  of  elevation  con- 
taining valuable  deposites  at  other  points,  have,  from  slight 
indications  of  coal  and  iron  upon  their  lands,  imagined  them- 
selves, by  anticipation,  in  possession  of  inexhaustible  resources, 
and  capital  has  been  vainly  expended  to  bring  them  into  ac- 
tion. Others,  from  finding  coal  in  the  anthracitic  area,  having 
slight  bituminous  properties,  have  jumped  at  once  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  locality  was  comprehended  within  the  limits 
of  the  Western  bituminous  coal  field,  that  the  coal  at  greater 
depths  would  have  all  the  qualities  of  the  best  bituminous 
coal,  and  would  justify  a  great  expenditure  of  capital  to  get  it 
to  the  Atlantic  cities. * 

*  Mr.  Richard  C.  Taylor,  in  his  valuable  paper  "on  the  relative  position  of  the 
transition  and  secondary  coal  formations  in  Pennsylvania,  and  description  of  some 
transition  coal  and  bituminous  anthracite,"  &c.  has  sufficiently  proved  that  the 
supposed  bituminous  veins  of  Broad-top  mountain,  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania, 
belong  to  the  anthracite  region.  (See  Transactions  of  the  Geological  Society  of 
Pennsylvania,  vol.  1,  part  2d,  page  177,  1835.)  These  bituminous  anthracites 
were  mentioned  in  my  report  of  last  year,  page  24,  amongst  the  instances  which 
show  a  progression  in  the  quality  of  coals  inconsistent  with  the  general  opinion 
entertained  of  their  vegetable  origin. 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  45 

These  mistakes  are  natural,  for  we  easily  believe  in  what  we 
desire.  It  is  impossible  in  our  present  defective  state  of  in- 
formation, without  a  map  which  accurately  gives  the  magnetic 
course  of  the  ridges,  to  form  any  but  a  conjectural  opinion 
whether  the  anthracite  coal  of  Alleghany,  in  Virginia,  is  con- 
nected by  a  particular  line  of  direction  with  any  one  of  the 
great  deposites  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  any  landholder  who  has 
not  had  leisure  to  pay  much  attention  to  practical  geology,  and 
who  has  been  told  that  anthracite  is  always  non-bituminous, 
is  readily  to  be  excused  when,  upon  finding  bituminous  coal  on 
his  lands,  he  comes  to  the  willing  conclusion  that  they  are 
within  the  great  bituminous  coal  field.  The  public  mind  can 
only  be  properly  enlightened  on  such  important  subjects  by 
minute  and  accurate  surveys  conducted  by  men  of  approved 
experience.  All  the  complexity  of  the  phenomena  1  have  spo- 
ken of  would  then  be  reduced  to  an  intelligible  and  instruct- 
ive system  ;  the  topographical  position  of  the  ridges  would  be 
accurately  laid  down,  their  mineralogical  character  would  be 
truly  described,  every  locality  would  be  identified  and  have 
its  proximate  mineral  value  fixed. 

The  next  formation  succeeding  to  the  old  red  sandstone, 
both  in  Europe  and  America,  is  the  carboniferous  limestone, 
the  base  of  a  group  of  coal-bearing  beds,  in  which  the  coal 
is  most  developed  in  the  superior  member,  which  has  conse- 
quently received  the  distinct  name  of  coal  measures.  The 
order  in  which  the  members  of  this  group  succeed  each  other 
in  both  hemispheres,  is  represented  in  the  following  table  ;* 
the  agreement  in  the  mutual  order  of  succession  of  the  beds  of 
this  series  is  not  more  remarkable  than  that  which  prevails  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  column. 

*  The  European  part  is  taken  from  Mr.  Phillips's  admirable  work,  "  Illustrations 
of  the  Geology  of  Yorkshire,"  p.  11.  London,  1836. 


46 


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Feather stonhangh^s  Geological  Report.  47 

Although  there  is  a  true  succession  of  the  beds  just  enume- 
rated in  this  group,  yet  it  by  no  means  occurs  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  group  are  all  found  in  the  countries  where  the 
formations  even  exist.  In  some  instances  many  of  the  beds 
are  entirely  deficient,  and  in  numerous  cases  they  are  ex- 
tremely thick,  whilst  in  others  scarce  a  trace  of  them  ap- 
pears even  to  have  been  deposited.  In  some  countries  the 
coal  measures  are  entirely  distinct  from  the  millstone  grit 
and  shale,  and  carboniferous  limestone,  whilst  in  others  they 
are  almost  blended  together  by  alternations  of  sandstones, 
limestones,  and  shales.  In  the  State  of  Maryland,  pursuing 
the  road  from  Hancock  to  Frostburg,  near  Cumberland,  the 
carboniferous  limestone  does  not  develop  itself,  as  in  the 
Western  country,  in  extensive  horizontal  areas.  On  leaving 
the  highly-inclined  Silurian  rocks,  red  shales  and  sandstones 
succeed  to  each  other.  At  Flintstone  there  are  beds  of  lime- 
stone containing  abundance  of  organic  remains  having  a  strong 
affinity  to  those  of  the  carboniferous  limestone,  but  to  these  im- 
mediately succeed  alternating  sandstones,  shales,  and  slaty 
limestones ;  and  thus  the  country  rises  from  Cumberland  to 
Frostburg,  about  1 ,300  feet,  where  is  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
regular  developments  of  the  coal  measures  in  the  United  States, 
with  little  indication,  except  what  is  gathered  from  fossils,  of  that 
carboniferous  limestone  which  has  such  a  splendid  extension  in 
various  parts  of  the  Western  country,  and  through  which  the  Mis- 
sissippi flows  more  than  a  thousand  miles.*  It  is  the  very  reverse 
of  the  picture  which  the  same  formations  present  on  descending 
the  country  from  the  Cumberland  mountains,  by  the  way  of  Spar- 
ta, to  Nashville,  in  Tennessee.  At  the  summit  of  those  moun- 
tains, the  sandstone  contains  nothing  more  than  indications  of 
bituminouscoal,  whilst,  on  descending,  the  carboniferous  lime- 
stone immediately  develops  itself,  in  great  force,  to  a  depth  of 
eight  hundred  feet,  to  where  the  Cumberland  river  loses 

*  This  is  the  preponderating  formation  in  Ireland. 


48  Feather  stonhaugh1*  s  Geological  Report. 

itself  in  the  Ohio  ;  resembling  in  a  degree  the  calcareous 
masses  in  England  and  Wales  which  have  given  rise  to  the 
name  of  mountain  limestone.  The  conglomerates  likewise, 
which  in  some  parts  of  the  country  alternate  with  the  lower- 
beds  of  the  carboniferous  limestone,  in  others  are  entirely 
detached  from  it,  and  form  the  upper  bed  of  the  old  red  sand- 
stone, as  is  more  frequently  the  case  in  Europe.  These  local 
differences  in  the  condition  of  proximate  beds,  whilst  they 
show  an  irregularity  of  action  in  particular  localities,  prove 
that  the  same  cause  to  which  they  owe  their  origin  operated 
to  produce  these  analogous  deposites  in  both  hemispheres. 
Extreme  as  the  difference  is  between  the  state  and  extent  of 
the  carboniferous  limestone  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States,  it  is  equally  remarkable  in  Europe,  especially  in  Great 
Britain.  There,  no  district  where  this  formation  prevails, 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  furnish  a  perfect  mineral  type  to  com- 
pare with  that  of  any  other  part  of  the  country,  so  much  are 
the  calcareous  deposites  varied  by  alternations  of  shale,  the 
thinning  out  of  beds,  and  other  incidents.  An  adequate  knowl- 
edge of  the  organic  remains  belonging  to  this  formation  will 
however  be  a  sufficient  guide  to  the  student  to  identify  the 
deposite. 

The  great  purity  of  most  of  the  beds  of  the  carboniferous 
limestone  furnishes  strong  evidence  that  they  have  been  de- 
posited from  mineral  waters  holding  carbonate  of  lime  in 
chemical  solution,  as  we  find  them  doing  in  our  times.  It  is 
true  some  of  the  beds  are  intermixed  with  argillaceous  matter, 
and  hence  become  less  fitted  for  economical  purposes  ;  but  this 
circumstance  disposes  to  the  belief  that  these  strata  had  their 
origin  from  below,  rather  than  from  the  destruction  of  pre- 
existent  continents,  an  opinion  which  some  have  entertained, 
since,  in  this  latter  case,  the  heterogeneous  admixture  must 
have  been  more  general.  A  great  number  of  the  beds  are  loaded 
with  nodules  and  layers  of  chert,  resembling,  in  a  remarkable 
degree,  in  their  connexion  with  the  limestone,  the  manner  in 


Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  49 

which  detached  masses  and  layers  of  flint  are  found  lying  in 
the  chalk  formation.  The  beds  of  the  Cumberland  river,  two 
or  three  miles  above  Nashville,  and  those  near  Herculaneum, 
on  the  Mississippi,  furnish  striking  instances,  especially  at  this 
last-named  place,  of  the  parallel  disposition  of  the  cherty  layers. 
The  next  formation  in  the  series  is  the  millstone  grit  and 
shale,  the  inferior  part  of  which,  when  well  denned,  consists 
of  shales,  with  occasional  beds  of  limestone  and  coal.  The 
upper  part  is  made  up  of  coarse  sandstones  or  grit,  with  pebbles 
of  quartz.  This  is  an  extensive  formation  in  England,  occu- 
pying a  considerable  area  in  the  central  parts  of  that  country, 
between  the  53d  and  54th  parallels  of  latitude,  where  it 
divides  the  great  coal  field  of  the  large  manufacturing  towns, 
and  runs  up  alongside  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  to  the 
coal  measures  of  the  northern  counties.  As  it  proceeds  to  the 
north,  its  character  is  less  defined,  and  the  formations  between 
which  it  lies  run  more  immediately  into  each  other,  presenting 
regular  strata  of  limestone,  with  numerous  subordinate  beds  of 
coal.  In  the  United  States  the  millstone  grit  and  shale  is  cut 
through  by  the  Cumberland  river,  in  Whitely  county,  Ken- 
tucky, to  a  depth  of  700  feet ;  the  conglomerate  part  being  about 
500  feet  thick,  and  the  shale,  with  three  horizontal  good  veins 
of  bituminous  coal,  each  from  three  and  a  half  to  four  and  a 
half  feet  thick,  being  about  200  feet.  At  the  gap  of  Wills's 
mountain,  in  the  vicinity  of  Cumberland,  there  is  a  fine  ex- 
hibition of  this  formation,  in  an  escarpment  between  800  and 
900  feet.  The  inferior  is  a  reddish  chocolate-colored  shale,  of 
which  the  superior  and  greater  portion  is  a  gray  quartzose 
sandstone.  On  rising  the  Alleghany  mountain*  from  Shell- 
burgh,  in  Pennsylvania,  the  quartzose  conglomerate  incumbent 
on  the  shale  is  found  near  the  summit.  Mr.  R.  C.  Taylor,  in 
his  instructive  paper  accompanying  "  a  section  of  the  Alle- 

*  This  is  the  general  name  given  to  that  lofty  ridge  which  separates  the  bitu- 
minous  coal  measures  from  all  the  other  Alleghany  ridges, 

4 


50  Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

ghany  mountain  and  Moshannon  valley,  in  Centre  county, 
Pennsylvania,"*  notices  the  same  u  conglomerate  rock  or  pud- 
ding stone,  composed  of  white  quartz  pebbles,  set  in  a  coarse 
grit,"  as  underlying  the  inferior  beds  of  the  bituminous  coal 
measures. 

The  coal  measures  usually  consist  of  repeated  alternations 
of  micaceous  sandstones  in  thick  beds,  or,  when  thinner,  in 
incoherent  lamina,  alternating  with  shales  ;  shales,  beds  of  iron 
stone,  fire  clay,  bituminous  coal,  and  occasional  beds  of  lime- 
stone. In  these  circumstances,  the  great  coal  fields  of  South 
Wales,  central  England,  northern  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and  the  other  great  coal  countries  of  Europe  all  agree.  There 
is  perhaps  not  a  section  to  be  obtained  from  any  mine  in  any 
of  these  districts,  for  which  something  like  an  equivalent  could 
not  be  found  in  the  other  districts,  as  to  their  general  approxi- 
mating character.  The  veins  vary  in  width,  from  seams  of  a 
minute  proportionate  part  of  an  inch  to  upwards  of  thirty  feet, 
and,  together  with  the  veins  of  iron  stone  and  argillaceous  iron 
ores,  constitute,  as  is  generally  known,  a  most  important  part 
of  the  wealth  of  the  British  empire.  The  structure  of  the 
Western  bituminous  coal  measures  of  the  United  States  re- 
sembles closely  those  of  Europe,  except  in  the  circumstance 
that  they  are  not  so  much  dislocated  by  disturbances  from 
below  ;  and  one  of  the  objects  of  this  sketch  of  the  structure  of 
the  geological  column  being  principally  to  show  the  general 
agreement  in  the  order  of  succession  of  rocks  in  both  hemis- 
pheres, which  the  coal  itself  makes  sufficiently  manifest,  I  shall 
defer  the  particular  consideration  of  the  coal  measures  of  this 
country  to  another  part  of  this  report. 

Being  now  arrived  at  the  point  where  that  deficiency  in 
the  United  States  of  no  less  than  twenty-one  important  strata 
of  European  rocks,  estimated  to  contain  a  geological  thickness 
of  5,500  feet,  commences,  beginning  with  the  Exeter  red  con- 

*  Monthly  American  Journal  of  Geology  and  Natural  Science,  p.  433. 


Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report,  51 

glomerate,  and  ending  with  the  weald  clay,  both  inclusive,  (a 
very  remarkable  deficiency,  which  I  was  the  first  to  point  out, 
in  the  year  1828,)  I  shall  merely  advert  to  the  prominent 
characters  of  the  different  mineral  beds,  that  any  student  into 
whose  hands  this  report  may  come,  may  have  an  opportunity 
of  applying  those  characters  to  any  rocks  he  may  meet 
with,  which  are  not  in  accordance  with  those  of  the  rocks 
hitherto  alluded  to.  In  an  economical  point  of  view,  the  for- 
mations in  question,  not  containing  the  precious  metals,  or 
much  of  the  useful  ones,  or  embracing  any  important  deposite 
of  coal,  are  not  so  much  to  be  regretted,  except,  perhaps,  on 
the  score  of  the  fine  freestones  they  include ;  but  nothing,  as 
will  hereafter  be  seen,  can  exceed  the  surprising  interest 
which  the  organic  remains  embraced  in  them  have  excited. 

We  now  come  to  a  series  of  formations  constituting  the  new 
red  sandstone  group,  which  varies  very  much  in  its  structure 
in  different  portions  of  Europe.  The  whole  group,  however, 
may  be  divided  into  five  portions — the  variegated  marls  of  the 
Vosges  in  France,  the  muschelkalk  of  Wurtemberg  and  other 
parts  of  Germany,  the  new  red  or  variegated  sandstone,  the 
magnesian  limestone  or  zechstein,  and  the  Exeter  red  con- 
glomerate  or  todtliegende.  These  will  be  briefly  noticed  in 
the  ascending  order. 

The  Exeter  red  conglomerate,  or  supposed  equivalent  of 
todtliegendes,  is  a  conglomerate  formed  of  beds  which  have  pre- 
ceded it,  fragments  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  forming  a 
considerable  portion  of  its  structure.  It  is  called  in  Germany 
todtliegende  or  dead  stratum,  in  contradistinction  to  a  bed  of 
copper  slate  which  rests  upon  it,  and  which  is  worked  for  the 
metal  it  affords,  itself  producing  none. 

The  magnesian  limestone  or  zechstein  varies  very  much  in 
England  and  Germany.  Professor  Sedgwick*  has  described 

*  Transactions  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  vol.  3,  part  3.  "  On  the 
geological  relations  and  internal  structure  of  the  magnesian  limestone,  and  the 
lower  portions  of  the  new  red  sandstone  series,  &c.  By  the  Rev.  Adam  Sedg- 
wick," &c. 

4* 


52  FeatherstonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

this  formation  with  great  ability  and  detail  as  it  exists  in  the 
north  of  England,  considering  it  the  equivalent  of  the  zech- 
stein*  of  Germany.  In  Nottingham,  Derbyshire,  Yorkshire, 
and  Durham,  however,  it  differs  essentially  in  structure  and 
arrangement,  consisting  of  marly  slates  and  compact  and  shelly 
limestones,  with  a  great  central  deposite  of  yellow  magnesian 
limestone,  both  compact  and  laminated.  Some  of  the  beds 
have  an  extraordinary  quantity  of  magnesia  contained  in  them, 
whilst  others,  with  irregular  concretions  of  crystalline  lime- 
stone, have  no  magnesia,  but  occasionally  an  oolitic  structure. 
The  fossil  fishes  found  in  this  formation  resemble  those  of  the 
kupferschiefer  or  copper  slate  of  Germany.  The  German  beds 
of  this  formation  are  provincially  called  "  asche,"  (the  loose 
marl,)  "  stinkstein,"  (fetid  limestone,)  rauchwache,zechstein, 
and  kupferschiefer.  The  rauchwache,  when  very  porous  01 
rather  cellular,  has  often  a  thickness  of  from  forty  to  fifty  feet. 
The  kupferschiefer  has  a  mean  thickness,  in  the  Mansfeldt 
country  in  Thuringia,  Franconia,  and  the  Hartz,  of  about  one 
foot. 

The  new  red  or  variegated  sandstone  is  named  after  the 
colors  red,  white,  blue,  and  green,  which  distinguish  this  rock, 
In  some  parts  of  Germany  it  includes  conglomerates.  Rock 
salt  and  gypsum  are  found  in  it.  Occasionally  the  mica  it  con- 
tains is  sufficiently  abundant  to  render  it  schistose. 

The  muschelkalk,  which  is  deficient  in  Great  Britain,  is  a 
gray  compact  limestone,  passing  into  marls. 

The  variegated  marls  of  the  Vosges  pass  into  the  lias,  the 
superincumbent  formation.  They  are  generally  of  a  red  and 
greenish  color,  and  contain  dark  schistose  seams  and  thin  beds 
of  quartzose  sandstone.  Salt  and  gypsum  are  found  in  the  in- 
ferior part.  The  passage  of  this  rock  into  the  lias  is  not 
marked  in  England  by  these  characteristic  marls.  If  there  are 

*  Formerly  the  provincial  name  of  a  single  bed,  now  the  scientific  name  of  a 
series  of  beds, 


Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  58 

any  rocks  in  the  United  States  which  deserve  to  be  examined 
with  the  most  precise  accuracy,  with  a  view  to  institute  a  com- 
parison with  the  members  of  this  group,  I  should  point  to  those 
which  are  included  in  Mr.  Hitchcock's  paper*  on  the  geology 
of  the  Connecticut,  where,  amidst  red  argillaceous  schistose 
sandstones,  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  fossil  fish  are 
found  in  a  bed  of  bituminous  shale  of  a  mean  thickness  of  about 
ten  feet.  Mr.  Hitchcock  states  in  that  paper  that  Mr.  Brog- 
niart  was  of  opinion  the  Connecticut  formation  had  the  strong, 
est  resemblance  to  that  of  the  bituminous  marl  slates  of  the 
copper  mines  in  the  country  of  Mansfeldt  and  Hesse,  and  that 
he  did  not  consider  the  occurrence  of  thin  beds  or  veins  of 
coal  as  opposed  to  his  opinion,  which  of  course  was  founded 
upon  description  and  upon  specimens.  These  seams  of  coal 
are  thin,  not  exceeding  one  inch,  yet  sufficiently  numerous  to 
have  induced  Mr.  Hitchcock,  in  his  minute  and  admirable 
paper  for  the  period  in  which  it  was  drawn  up,  (1822,)  to 
name  it  the  coal  formation,  a  term  which  invites  a  great  deal 
of  investigation,  on  account  of  the  great  value  of  the  results 
connected  with  it.  I  would  remark  here,  that  the  occurrence 
of  seams  of  bituminous  coal  by  no  means  identifies  the  rocks 
in  which  they  are  found  with  the  regular  coal  measures,  since, 
without  speaking  of  other  portions  of  the  geological  column, 
it  is  stated  by  Professor  Puschf  that  seams  of  coal  from  three 
to  twenty-five  inches  thick  are  found  in  Poland  between  the 
muschelkalk  and  the  oolitic  series,  in  the  very  group  now  un- 
der consideration — a  circumstance  which  strengthens  the  anal- 
ogy between  this  group  in  Europe  and  the  coal  formation  of 
Connecticut.  To  this  may  be  added  the  important  fact  of  the 
presence  of  copper  in  both  formations,  which,  although  exist- 
ing under  different  conditions  in  each  of  them,  may  have  been 
produced  in  each  by  the  same  cause.  In  Germany  the  copper 
is  obtained  from  the  stratum  of  slate  in  which  it  is  distributed, 

*  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  6,  p.  73.  t  Journal  de  Grologie. 


54  Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report, 

and  which,  as  has  before  been  observed,  reposes  upon  the 
conglomerate  bed  below  ;  whilst  in  Connecticut  the  carbonif- 
erous rocks  alternate  with  intrusive  rocks,  and  the  copper, 
according  to  Mr.  Hitchcock,  is  "  found  on  the  margin  of  the 
greenstone  and  coal  formation,  and  the  veins  always  pass, 
either  laterally  or  perpendicularly,  from  one  rock  into  the 
other."  The  presence  of  the  copper  in  both  instances  is 
probably  owing  to  the  disturbance  which  in  the  one  instance 
produced  the  conglomerate  on  which  the  kupferschiefer  rests, 
and  in  the  other  to  the  intrusion  of  the  greenstone  beds 
amongst  the  beds  of  the  coal  formation,  laying,  frequently  at  an 
angle  of  40  degrees  with  the  horizon,  beds  which  originally 
were  deposited  on  a  horizontal  line.  My  own  observations 
of  these  Connecticut  carboniferous  beds,  which  have  been 
made  at  various  intervals,  wrhilst  passing  too  rapidly  through 
the  country,  have  led  me  to  the  opinion  that  they  form  part  of 
the  regular  coal  measures  very  partially  deposited  in  this  por- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

The  lias  is  considered  to  be  the  lowest  formation  of  the 
oolitic  series  of  rocks,  so  called  from  the  calcareous  beds  of 
the  series  being  distinguished  by  the  general  prevalence  of  a 
peculiar  structure,  their  substance  being  more  or  less  composed 
of  small  ovula  or  concentric  egg-form  grains  of  carbonate  of 
lime,  resembling  the  roe  of  a  fish,  from  which  resemblance  it 
was  usual  once  amongst  mineralogists  to  denominate  oolite 
rock  roestone.*  In  Great  Britain,  and  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  this  formation  has  a  very  general  character,  sometimes 
masses  of  argillaceous  marls  predominating,  and  at  other  times, 
especially  in  the  lower  portions  of  the  formation,  beds  of  lime- 
stone, with  an  occasional  oolitic  structure.  In  England  this- 
deposite  traverses  the  whole  kingdom,  the  general  direction 
being  east  of  north,  in  a  somewhat  curved  line,  from  near  50° 

*  Some  beds  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  are  oolitic  in  the  United  States,  which 
is  the  case  in  the  same  formation  in  Europe, 


Feather  stonhaugh*  s  Geological  Report.  55 

SO  to  about  54°  30'  north  latitude.  In  that  country  the  mass 
of  the  deposite  consists  of  a  blue  clay,  somewhat  bituminous 
and  exceedingly  pyritiferous,  containing  numerous  courses  of 
iron  stone  and  septarious  nodules.  Arenaceous  limestones 
and  beds  of  sandstones  are  enclosed  in  this,  and,  towards  the 
bottom,  very  characteristic  beds  of  pure  blue  and  white  lime- 
stones, useful  as  lithographic  stones.  This  structure  of  the 
mass  gives  it  an  external  appearance,  which  distinguishes  it 
so  much  from  all  other  formations  and  groups  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  mistake  its  characters.  But  the  surprisingly  interest- 
ing organic  remains  which  are  entombed  in  it,  and  which  will 
be  hereafter  alluded  to,  have  established  its  still  more  general 
character,  wherever  it  has  been  observed.  I  have  not  seen 
any  thing  resembling  it  in  any  part  of  the  United  States.* 

It  will  be  evident  to  all  who  consider  the  general  structure 
of  the  oolitic  series,  that  it  could  not  have  escaped  observa- 
tion had  it  existed  within  those  parts  of  the  United  States 
which  are  known  to  geologists  ;  for,  taking  it  as  a  mass,  as  it  is 
found  in  Europe,  where,  from  local  causes  perhaps,  some  of 
its  members  are  irregularly  distributed,  it  presents  three  dis- 
tinct argillo-calcareous  deposites  of  a  mean  thickness  of  about 
five  hundred  feet,  alternating  with  other  deposites  of  a  cal- 
careous and  sometimes  arenaceous  structure.  These  three 
argillaceous  masses  are  the  lias,  the  Oxford  clay,  and  Kimme- 
ridge  clay,  and  the  causes  which  deposited  them  have  been  so 
general  as  to  have  been  simultaneously  in  action  in  England, 
France,  and  Germany. 

*  I  do  not  know  whether  the  writers  on  American  geology  (Silliman's  Journal, 
Oct.  1835,  Jan.  1836,)  who  still  continue  to  describe  various  members  of  the  car- 
boniferous limestone  as  the  equivalent  of  the  lias,  have  ever  been  in  Europe  and 
have  examined  the  lias  beds  there.  I  should  think  not.  Having  had  sufficient 
opportunities  of  comparing  the  American  localities  referred  to,  with  the  lias  in 
various  parts  of  Europe,  I  can  but  repeat  that  the  characteristic  fossils  of  the  lias 
have  not  been  seen  here,  and  that  the  mineral  affinities  of  the  American  beds  in 
question,  as  well  as  their  fossils,  class  them  beyond  a  doubt  in  the  carboniferous 
limestone. 


56  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 


Some  of  the  English  writers  have  found  it  convenient  to 
separate  the  oolitic  series  into  four  divisions,  placing  the 
Portland  oolite  and  the  Kimmeridge  clay  in  the  first  division, 
(descending  order,)  the  coral  rag  and  Oxford  clay  in  the 
second,  the  cornbrash,  the  forest  marble,  the  Bradford  clay, 
the  great  oolite,  the  fuller's  earth,  and  inferior  oolite,  in  the 
third,  and  the  lias  in  the  fourth. 

The  third  division,  now  about  to  be  noticed,  is  generally 
called  the  lower  or  Bath  oolite  formation,  on  account  of  the 
beauty  and  value,  for  architectural  purposes,  of  the  freestone 
taken  from  the  great  oolite  bed  near  Bath. 

The  inferior  oolite  is  in  some  places  an  arenaceous  deposite, 
sometimes  superimposed  by  limestones,  with  occasional  oolitic 
iron  ore,  and  underlies  a  stratum  of  pure  aluminous  earth,  called 
fuller's  earth.  In  Yorkshire  this  bed  is  ferruginous  and  shelly 
in  its  fracture,  and  is  subjacent  to  sandstones  and  shales,  with 
seams  of  bituminous  coal. 

The  fuller's  earth  is  not  a  general  deposite,  but  is  found 
very  valuable  in  the  useful  arts. 

The  great  oolite  is  the  distinguishing  member  of  this  divi- 
sion, and  furnishes  the  freestone  for  the  public  and  private 
buildings  at  Bath,  in  England,  as  well  as  in  Normandy  and 
other  parts  of  the  continent. 

The  Bradford  clay  is  a  partial  deposite,  remarkable  for  its 
very  perfect  specimens  of  apiocrinites  rotundus,  or  the  round, 
pear-shaped  encrinite. 

The  forest  marble  is  a  coarse,  shelly,  oolitic  limestone,  as- 
sociated with  sands  and  sandy  accretions.  It  is  a  remarkable 
bed  in  the  geological  history  of  the  series  for  having  produced 
the  first  specimen  of  a  quadruped,  the  didelphis  bucklandi, 
an  extinct  species  of  opossum. 

The  cornbrash  is  a  coarse,  shelly  limestone,  owing  its  some- 
what dissonant  name  to  the  facility  with  which  it  disintegrates 
and  yields  to  the  plough,  being,  according  to  the  old  provin- 
cial term,  brashy  or  breaky  enough  to  enable  the  plough  to 


Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  57 

prepare  the  surface,  where  this  rock  prevails,  for  wheat, 
always  called  corn  in  England.  In  Yorkshire  the  sandstones, 
shales,  and  seams  of  coal  repeated,  are  subjacent  to  this  stra- 
tum, and  are  conceded  to  be  the  equivalents  of  Mr.  Murchi- 
son's  coal  seams  of  Brora,  in  the  oolitic  group  of  Scotland, 
which  he  first  described. 

The  Oxford  clay  is  a  dense,  blue,  argillo-calcareous  mass, 
including  stony  beds  called  Kelloway  rock.  This  is  an  exten- 
sive deposite,  as  well  on  the  continent  as  in  England,  where, 
with  its  associate  members  of  the  oolitic  series,  it  describes  an 
incurved  line  through  the  kingdom,  following  the  course  of  the 
lias. 

The  coral  rag  is  an  oolitic  rock,  lying  between  an  upper 
and  lower  calcareous  grit  in  the  north  of  England.  The  ovula 
are  frequently  as  large  as  peas,  which  has  occasioned  the  rock 
in  certain  localities  to  be  called  pisolite.  This  deposite  is  re- 
markable in  some  localities  for  its  abundance  of  coral  structure, 
and  deserves  notice  as  separating  those  two  great  argillo-cal- 
careous deposites  betwixt  which  it  lies. 

The  Kimmeridge  clay  is  a  calcareous  clay,  of  a  blue  color, 
which,  like  the  other  great  argillaceous  deposites,  contains 
septaria,  besides  lignites. 

The  Portland  oolite  is  the  bed  which  produces  the  fine  free- 
stone called  in  England  Portland  stone  ;  it  is  found  both  com- 
pact and  oolitic,  is  disposed  to  be  cherty,  and  contains,  towards 
the  bottom,  green  sandy  beds. 

The  Purbeck  limestone  is  superincumbent  to  the  oolitic 
series  ;  its  general  structure  is  clays,  embracing  beds  of  lime- 
stone with  ironstone. 

The  Hastings  sand  consists  of  various  colored  sands  and 
sandstones,  containing  lignites  and  coarse  grits. 

The  weald  clay,  so  denominated  from  the  weald  of  Sussex, 
is  a  stiff,  slaty  clay,  containing  ironstone,  alternating  towards 
the  bottom  with  sands,  and  embracing  beds  of  fresh-water  lime- 
stone. 


58  Feather  stonhaugh^  s  Geological  Report. 

We  have  now  reached  the  cretaceous  group,  where  we 
again  find  an  appearance  of  equivalents  in  this  country  to  the 
European  formations.  The  lower  part  of  this  group  has  been 
usually  called  the  green  sand  formation,  from  its  abounding  in 
green-colored  grains,  which,  upon  analysis,  give  silex,  pro- 
toxide of  iron,  alumine,  and  potash.  They  are  the  distinguish- 
ing mineral  characteristics  of  its  structure  wherever  it  has  been 
observed,  but  do  not  obtain  in  the  central  portion  of  the  form- 
ation, where  a  strong  bed  of  arenaceous  and  calcareous  clay, 
called  gault,  divides  it  into  three  portions,  the  lower  green 
sandy  the  gault,  and  the  upper  green  sand. 

The  lower  green  sand  is  very  ferruginous,  containing  beds 
of  sand  more  indurated  towards  the  bottom,  with  limestone  in 
some  localities. 

The  gault  is  a  bed  of  grayish  blue  clay,  effervescing 
strongly,  and  containing  fossils  which  have  a  very  fine  nacre 
frequently. 

The  upper  green  sand  is  a  mass  of  stratified  sands,  contain- 
ing a  large  portion  of  the  green  grains,  and  occasionally  green 
or  reddish  nodules,  which,  upon  analysis,  have  yielded  phos- 
phates in  great  proportions.  Thick  regular  seams  of  chert  are 
also  sometimes  found  in  it. 

The  upper  part  of  this  group  consists  of  the  chalk  marl,  the 
lower  chalk,  and  the  upper  chalk,  all  of  which  appear  to  be 
deficient  in  the  United  States.  The  mineralogical  characters 
of  these  two  last  members  of  the  cretaceous  group  are  so  well 
known,  the  carbonate  of  lime  of  which  they  consist,  on  account 
of  its  pure  white  color  and  its  loose  state  of  induration,  being 
so  conspicuously  different  from  any  other  known  mineral,  that 
the  student  is  in  no  need  for  any  other  guide  to  assist  him  in 
discriminating  between  this  and  any  other  rocks  he  may  meet. 
They  have  not  yet  been  noticed  in  any  part  of  the  United 
States.  This  is  not  the  case  with  the  lower  members  of  the 
cretaceous  group,  which  form  a  very  extensive  but  very  irreg- 
ular line  from  New  Jersey  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Mandan 


Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  59 

country,  in  about  latitude  47°  north,  a  line  which  was  more  par- 
ticularly noticed  in  my  report  of  last  year.*  This  lower  division 
of  the  cretaceous  group  for  a  great  portion  of  this  distance  has 
a  common  mineral  character  not  much  dissimilar  to  that  of  the 
same  deposites  in  Europe  ;  but  the  agreement  in  the  fossil 
bodies  found  in  it  is  so  strong  as  to  leave  no  doubt  whatever 
of  our  having  the  equivalents  of  the  green  sand  formation  of 
Europe  in  the  United  States.  There  are  also  satisfactory  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  these  beds  are  deposited  for  much  the 
greater  part  of  that  line,  if  not  upon  the  whole  of  it,  on  the 
lowest  beds  of  the  primary  order,  so  that  the  line  itself  may 
be  considered  as  representing  the  shore  of  the  ancient  ocean 
which  deposited  these  beds.  The  localities  of  these  beds  in 
the  United  States  are  New  Jersey,  some  points  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Potomac  river,  Maryland,  and  near  Coggin's  point, 
on  the  right  bank  of  James  river,  Virginia,  where  they  are 
generally  covered  over  by  the  tertiary.  Further  south  the 
coast  lies  so  low  that  the  inferior  beds  of  the  tertiary  are  be- 
low the  water  level,  but,  scarce  as  natural  sections  are,  the 
beds  sometimes  re-appear  as  the  country  rises  in  the  interior, 
and  at  Prairie  bluff,  on  the  Alabama  river,  and  in  the  neigh- 
boring country,  are  rich  in  the  subcretaceous  fossils.  From 
thence  they  may  be  traced  at  various  points  along  this  ancient 
shore,  on  the  west  of  the  Tennessee  river,  in  Arkansas,  in 
Hempstead  and  Sevier  counties,  westward,  to  the  Kiamesha, 
near  Fort  Towson,  and  so  on  up  the  False  Washita,  till  the  line 
deflects  to  the  north  and  runs  up  to  the  Black  hills,  termina- 
ting probably  south  of  the  Mandan  country. 

The  last  three  deposites  of  the  column  forming  the  tertiary 
order  have  also  their  representatives  ip  this  country,  their 
mineral  character,  taking  them  in  a  mass,  having  a  strong 
general  resemblance,  which  is  completely  established  by  their 
organic  contents,  and  their  common  position,  so  near  the  sur- 
face, in  the  geological  column ;  but,  in  the  numerous  parts  of 

Page  37. 


60  Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

the  world  where  they  occur,  the  series  of  clays  and  sands  and 
imperfect  limestones  which  they  exhibit,  are  so  irregularly 
distributed,  that  no  one  locality  can  be  set  up  as  a  general 
type.  Formerly,  their  mineral  character  was  principally 
relied  upon  for  their  classification,  but  of  late  a  new  arrange- 
ment has  been  applied  to  them,  the  basis  of  which  is  their  sup- 
posed proximity  to  the  present  order  of  nature,  evidenced  by 
the  respective  proportions  of  fossil  shells  they  contain  of  spe- 
cies which  exist  at  present.  Of  this  a  fuller  explanation  will 
be  given. 

Before  any  thing  further  is  said  of  the  lower  division  of 
the  tertiary,  it  is  proper  to  remark  that  the  opinion  which 
prevailed  some  time  ago  that  there  was  a  distinct  sepa- 
ration between  the  superior  part  of  the  chalk  and  the  lowest 
bed  of  the  tertiary,  as  if  geological  causes  had  ceased  for  a 
while,  has  been  brought  into  doubt  by  more  extended  investi- 
gations. It  was  known  long  ago  that  the  surface  of  the  chalk 
had  been  greatly  abraded,  and  the  beds  of  plastic  clay  which 
succeed  to  it  in  some  parts  of  England  are  exceedingly  loaded 
with  nodules  of  flint  washed  out  of  it.  The  deposite  of  Mont 
St.  Pierre,  also  in  the  Maestricht  district  on  the  continent, 
which  differs  from  the  chalk  and  the  lowest  tertiary  beds, 
having  a  distinct  mineral  character,  and  containing  fossils  not 
common  to  the  chalk,  showed  a  real  passage  from  the  chalk  to 
the  tertiary.  Similar  observations  have  been  made  in  other- 
parts  of  Europe.  There  is  a  most  interesting  paper  connected 
with  this  subject  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Geological  Society 
of  London,  vol.  3,  part  2d,  accompanied  with  plates  of  the 
Gosau  and  Styria  fossils,  and  a  fine  lithographic  view  of  the 
valley  of  Gosau,  in,  the  Salzburgh  Alps,  by  Mrs.  Charlotte 
Murchison.  In  this  paper  Professor  Sedgwick  and  Mr.  Mur- 
chison,  after  a  careful  examination  of  a  series  of  beds  lying 
between  the  chalk  arid  the  tertiary,  have,  after  a  second  in- 
vestigation made  by  Mr.  Murchison  for  that  purpose,  come  to 
the  decision  that  a  series  of  blue  marls,  alternating  with  com- 


Feather stonhaugV  s  Geological  Report.  61 

pact  limestone  and  calcareous  grit,  are  independent  of  and  in- 
termediate between  the  chalk  and  the  lowest  known  beds  of 
the  tertiary.  The  developments  of  the  tertiary  beds  are  so 
numerous  in  this  country,  that  a  similar  passage  may  hereafter 
be  recognised  here. 

The  lower  tertiary  formation  is  subdivided  into  the  Lon- 
don clay  and  the  plastic  clay.  The  bed  called  plastic  clay  of 
the  English  geologists  is  found,  as  well  as  that  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Paris,  lying  upon  the  chalk,  yet  the  French  deposite,  from 
which  it  takes  its  name,  is  a  true  clay,  applicable  to  the  plastic 
uses  of  the  potter,  resembling  the  colored  clays  near  New- 
castle, Delaware,  whilst  the  deposite  in  the  environs  of  Lon- 
don consists  of  beds  of  flint  and  pebbles  alternating  with  sands 
and  clay,  yet  has  received  the  name  of  plastic  clay,  because  it 
occupied  the  same  geological  position  with  the  French  deposite. 

The  London  clay  is  the  great,  dark-colored,  argillaceous  mass 
upon  which  the  city  of  London  stands.  Its  mineral  character, 
however,  varies  :  calcareous  beds,  with  fossils,  are  enclosed  in 
it,  with  large  septaria.  Although  these  two  clays  have  acquired 
distinct  names,  yet  there  appears  nothing  in  their  mineral 
character  which  warrants  this  distinction  being  kept  up,  or 
their  being  considered  other  than  as  a  series  of  clays,  where 
the  fossils  preponderate  in  the  upper  part,  and  the  sand  and 
pebbles  in  the  lower.  This  is  the  eocene  group  of  Mr.  Lyell, 
a  compound  Greek  term,  expressive  of  the  dawn  of  the  present 
order  of  nature,  a  small  proportion  of  the  fossils  contained  in 
it  belonging  to  species  now  found  living. 

The  middle  tertiary  or  miocene  beds  have  their  best  type 
in  France,  and  comprehend  the  lower  fresh-water,  the  upper 
marine,  and  the  upper  fresh-water  of  the  vicinity  of  Paris. 
The  lower  fresh-water  contains  siliceous  limestone,  with  gyp- 
sum and  the  bones  of  the  paketherea  and  other  extinct  ani- 
mals, and  fresh-water  marls.  The  upper  marine  consists  of 
gypseous  marls,  sands  and  sandstones,  and  marine  marls  and 
limestone.  The  upper  fresh-water  contains  millstone  without 


62  Feather  stonhaugh' s  Geological  Report. 

shells,  and  fresh-water  marls.  The  terra  miocene  is  expressive 
of  an  increased  number  of  recent  shells  in  its  deposites,  but 
that  they  are  in  a  minority  as  to  numbers. 

The  upper  tertiary  or  pliocene  includes  the  tertiary  beds  of 
Sicily,  the  crag  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  in  England,  and  the 
sub-Appenine  marls.  These  last  consist  of  various  deposites 
of  marl,  with  sand  abounding  in  fossil  shells,  of  which  upwards 
of  40  per  cent,  belong  to  existing  species.  The  crag  is  found 
sometimes  lying  on  the  London  clay,  sometimes  on  the  chalk. 
It  is  a  sort  of  ancient  beach,  where  sand,  gravel,  earth,  red 
ferruginous  sand  with  ochreous  nodules,  and  coarse  white  and 
other  sands,  containing  vast  quantities  of  fossil  shells,  succeed 
to  each  other.  The  proportion  of  recent  shells  is  about  the 
same  as  that  found  in  the  sub-Appenine  beds,  and  they  are, 
therefore,  deemed  to  be  of  the  same  age.  The  tertiary  beds  of 
Sicily  consist  of  stratified  marine  deposites  of  clay,  sand,  and 
limestone,  at  great  heights  above  the  sea,  and  which  contain 
95  per  cent,  of  existing  species.  The  term  pliocene  expresses 
a  majority  of  recent  shells  to  be  present. 

These  tertiary  beds,  which  occupy  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
surface  of  Europe,  are  well  developed  in  the  United  States,  and 
extend  as  far  to  the  south  as  the  country  has  been  examined, 
usually  accompanying  the  subcretaceous  beds,  and  covering 
a  prodigious  area  towards  the  Atlantic,  south  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  The  vast  deposites  of  tertiary  shells  in  this 
area  are  now,  in  situations  where  they  are  accessible,  use- 
fully applied  to  agricultural  purposes,  especially  in  New 
Jersey,  Maryland,  and  Virginia.  The  mineral  character  of 
the  deposites  in  which  these  fossils  are  found,  is  often  formed 
by  various-colored  clays  of  a  very  unctuous  character,  oc- 
casionally divided  by  thin  ferruginous  seams,  sometimes 
abounding  with  minute  crystals  of  selenite,  at  other  times  con- 
taining very  large  aggregate  crystals,  all  of  which  appear  to 
owe  their  origin  to  the  organic  bodies  superincumbent  to  them. 
Sometimes,  as  in  the  banks  of  the  Choptank  river,  in  Talbot 


Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  63 

county,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  beds  of  fossil  shells 
of  various  genera,  with  a  very  slight  proportion  of  marly  earth 
strewed  amongst  them,  rise  from  15  to  20  feet  by  the  water 
side,  whilst  in  other  proximate  localities  extensive  areas  seem 
to  be  formed  of  nothing  but  fossil  oysters.  Other  localities, 
containing  a  great  profusion  of  these  fossils,  are  found  in  the 
vicinity  of  Piney  Point,  a  summer  bathing-place  on  the  Mary- 
land side,  about  twenty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac. 
Fine  exhibitions  of  this  kind,  also,  are  seen  on  the  right  bank 
of  James  river,  Virginia,  extending  southeast  from  the  vicinity 
of  City  Point,  wherever  the  banks  are  high  enough.  Occasion- 
ally calcareous  masses  are  found  irregularly  distributed  beneath 
the  greenish  argillaceous  marls,  containing  the  impressions  of 
shells  only,  as  if  their  calcareous  substance  had  been  carried 
below  by  the  constant  percolation  of  water.  These  appear- 
ances, varying  with  the  localities,  are  common  to  all  the  shell 
deposites  of  the  tide-water  districts  of  the  Southern  country, 
and  may  be  traced,  associated  with  the  subcretaceous  beds, 
the  whole  extent  of  the  line  defined  by  them.  Little  has  been 
done  hitherto  to  class  these  various  beds  according  to  the 
intelligent  system  proposed  by  Mr.  Lyell.  This  is  a  task 
requiring  the  devotion  of  much  time,  by  individuals  possessing 
a  minute  knowledge  of  conchology,  and  which  cannot  be 
achieved  in  a  very  short  period.* 

The  geological  column,  of  which  this  slight  sketch  has  been 
given,  finishes  with  the  superficial  soil  upon  which  we  live. 
This  consists  either  of  the  detritus  of  pre-existing  beds  brought 
into  its  place  by  the  agency  of  water,  or  of  the  decomposed 
parts  of  rocks  in  place,  the  decomposition  of  which  has  been 
effected  by  external  causes. 

In  the  preceding  pages  it  has  been  mainly  the  intention  of 
the  writer  to  effect  three  things :  to  furnish  some  guide  to 

*  Mr.  T.  Conrad  possesses  the  requisite  qualifications,  and  has  acquired  kso 
much  local  information  of  the  Southern  beds,  that  it  would  be  comparatively  easy 
for  him  to  accomplish  it. 


64  Feather  stonhaugh^s  Geological  Report. 

the  student  for  the  discrimination  of  beds ;  to  show  that  the 
strata,  with  the  exception  of  the  intrusive  rocks,  have  come 
into  their  places  after  an  invariable  succession  ;  and  that  the 
resemblance  between  the  members  of  this  succession  in  the 
United  States  and  the  order  of  the  European  strata  is  so  strong 
as  to  warrant  the  inference  that  they  have  been  produced  by 
similar  and  contemporaneous  causes.  In  the  remarks  which 
yet  remain  to  be  made,  other  remarkable  proofs  will  be  pro- 
duced of  these  truths,  derived  principally  from  the  organic 
bodies  found  in  these  strata.  It  cannot  escape  an  observer 
that  the  rocks  upon  the  habitable  surface  of  the  earth,  and  fre- 
quently at  an  elevation  of  many  thousand  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  ocean,  contain  fossil  shells  and  their  impressions,  of 
animals  that  could  only  have  existed  in  salt  water ;  in  some 
instances  the  beds  are  almost  entirely  composed  of  them.* 
Such  rocks,  then,  must  have  been  covered  for  long  periods  of 
time  by  the  ocean.  More  extensive  observation  would  show 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of  the  earth,  if  not  the 
whole,  has  once  been  in  that  situation.  The  student  will  now 
find  himself  zealously  engaged  in  an  inquiry  concerning  the 
causes  which  have  either  raised  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  from 
its  ancient  level,  or  depressed  it  to  enable  the  waters  to 
recede.  Happily,  the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the 
investigation  of  facts  will  enable  him  in  our  day  to  arrive  at  a 
satisfactory  conclusion,  without  having  recourse  to  any  hy- 
pothesis whatever.  To  explain  this  briefly  and  succinctly,  it 
must  be  premised  that  we  can  have  no  practical  knowledge  of 
the  structure  of  the  earth  beyond  the  depth  of  its  superficial 
crust,  whilst  the  semi-diameter  of  the  earth  exceeds  more  than 
five  hundred  times  the  thickness  of  that  crust.  But  the 
mean  specific  gravity  of  the  whole  is  about  double  that  of  the 
crust,  a  circumstance  which  proves  that  the  interior  is  not 

*  The  limestone  near  the  top,  on  the  north  side  of  the  ridge  from  the  foot  of 
which  the  Bath  waters  of  Morgan  county,  Virginia,  rise,  is  full  of  remains  of 
encrinites  and  cardia. 


Feather  stonhaugWs   Geological  Report.  65 

composed  of  oxydes,  as  we  may  suppose  the  greater  portion  of 
the  exterior  to  be.     The  contents  may  partially  consist  of  pon- 
derous bodies,  of  the  nature  of  metalloids,  and  great  cavities 
may  exist  there.     The  existence  of  volcanic  action  through 
every  part  of  the  known  world,  either  by  the    eruptions  of 
active  volcanoes  or  by  earthquakes,  is  an  assurance  that  there 
must  be  vast  cavities  in  the  interior  where  igneous  action  is 
fiercely  at  work,  and  of  which  these  volcanoes  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  safety-valves.     The  disturbances  resulting  from 
earthquakes  may  be  considered  as  the  effect  of  the  resistance 
which  the  solid  parts  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  oppose  to  the  ex- 
pansive power  striving  in  those  profound  cavities.  Applying  this 
power  to  many  phenomena  of  the  science,  we  are  able  to  com- 
prehend what  would  otherwise  be  incomprehensible.   The  low- 
est rocks  which  have  yet  been  met  with  in  penetrating  into  the 
crust  have  been  of  the  granite  kind ;  but  in  ascending  to  the  sum- 
mits of  some  of  the  highest  mountains,  we  find  them  composed 
also  of  granite.    We  have  no  method  of  explaining  this  apparent 
paradox  but  in  having  recourse  to  this  subterranean  force,  and 
giving  due  attention  to  the  multiplied  evidences  of  its  intense 
exertion.     Thus,  when  we  observe  some  of  the  stratified  beds 
which  lie  much  higher  up  in  the  series  than  the  granite,  re- 
posing at  high   inclinations  upon  the  flanks  of  the    granite 
mountains,  with  accompanying  marks  of  violent  dislocation, 
the  truth Jflashes  upon  us,  and  we  perceive  that  these  mountains 
have  once  existed  at  lower  levels,  and  that  they  have  been 
forced  up  through  the  superincumbent  beds.  We  thus  become 
acquainted   with   the   existence  of  a  power  capable   of  the 
mightiest  mechanical  exertions.     If  earthquakes  in  our  time 
rend  the  earth,  dislocate  its  solid  parts,  and  ingulf  portions  of 
it  in  the  chasms  they  produce,  what  were  they  not  capable  of 
when  the  subterranean  force,  at  an  early  period  of  the  deposi- 
tion of  strata,  was  infinitely  more  energetic,,  and  had  much  less 
resistance  opposed  to  it  ? 
5 


66  Feather stonhaugfrs  Geological  Report, 

These  conclusions,  to  which  geological  opinions  have  been  for 
some  time  tending,  and  which  are  now  universally  adopted, 
are  the  result,  not  only  of  geological  observations,  but  of  ma- 
thematical and  physical  reasonings,  which  lend  them  every 
authority  when  applied  to  the  causes  which  have  determined 
the  spheroidal  figure  of  the  earth,  and  the  state  of  igneous 
fluidity  it  must  once  have  been  in  to  assume  that  figure.  If 
this  is  to  be  called  a  theory,  it  is  only  another  name  for  the 
incontrovertible  result  arising  from  the  sound  generalization 
of  well-ascertained  facts.  To  some,  it  is  true,  who  have  never 
reflected  upon  this  subject,  it  may  appear  startling  to  hear 
that  continents  and  chains  of  mountains  have  been  raised  fro-m 
the  interior  parts  of  the  earth  by  the  force  of  subterranean 
power  ;  but  every  effect  is  proportionate  to  its  cause,  and 
where  the  first  is  definite,  and  the  last  immeasurable,  we  must 
submit  to  the  reasonableness  of  the  proposition,  remembering 
always,  that  although  human  power  dwindles  into  insignifi- 
cance when  applied  in  imagination  to  disturb  a  mineral  mass 
like  the  crust  of  the  earth,  yet  it  is  demonstrable  that  a  gas- 
eous pressure  may  be  generated  in  such  a  radius,  to  which 
the  known  mineral  mass  could  make  no  resistance.  In  reason- 
ing, therefore,  upon  these  high  matters,  we  must  not  measure 
unknown  forces  by  our  own  feeble  powers,  but  by  the  effects 
they  are  capable  of  producing,  and,  when  causes  and  effects 
of  this  high  planetary  character  are  under  consideration, 
must  reason  of  them  in  relation  to  the  proportion  in  which 
they  stand  to  each  other. 

The  evidences  of  these  upheavings  of  land  are  common  in  all 
extensive  countries,  especially  those  where  the  inclined  rocks 
prevail — a  character  common  to  all  the  strata  below  the  carbo- 
niferous limestone  ;  and  geologists  have  availed  themselves  of 
this  very  inclined  state  of  the  beds,  to  establish  as  it  were  a 
chronology  for  the  history  of  all  mountain  ranges,  showing,, 
relatively,  the  successive  geological  periods  at  which  they 
have  been  thrust  up.  It  is  obvious,  if  any  of  the  primary 


Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  67 

rocks  are  found  at  great  elevations,  with  other  beds,  superin- 
cumbent as  to  them  in  the  column,  hanging  in  an  inclined  state 
on  their  flanks,   these    last  having    other  beds   still   newer, 
deposited  in  an  undisturbed    state  upon  their  sides,  that  two 
geological  epochs  are  represented  here — the  appearing  of  the 
primary  rocks  through  the  adjacent  stratified  beds,  and  a  sub- 
sequent period  of  repose,  during  which  a  newer  set  of  rocks 
had  been  deposited.     Wherever  the  beds  have  been  thus  dis- 
located, it  is  evident  the  upheaving  took  place  subsequent  to 
their  deposite,  and  before   the  deposite  of  the   undisturbed 
rocks  adjacent  to  them.     This  is  more   accurately  shown  by 
the  two  following  diagrams  from  nature.*     In  Leicestershire, 
England,  (diagram  6,)  the  granite,  6,  &,  and  slate,  c,  c,  present 
beds  highly  inclined,  but  on  the  edges  of  those  beds,  new  red 
sandstone,  a,  a,  and  lias,  e,  are  found  in  a  horizontal  position, 
showing  that  these  last  have  been  deposited  subsequent  to  the 
upraising  of  the  first.     In  the  system  to  which   Mont  Blanc 
and  the  western  Alps  belong,  the   primary  beds  have  the 
oolites,  the  green  sand,  and  the  tertiaries,  lying  in  a  disturbed 
manner  upon  their  flanks,  showing  that  this  system  of  moun- 
tains was  upraised  since  the  tertiaries  were  deposited.     Dia- 
gram No.  7  represents  a  section  of  Alpine  beds,  near  the  Col 
de  Balme  and  Mont  Blanc,  where  ft,  a  are  alternate  beds  of 
lias  and  oolite,  the  equivalents  of  those  horizontal  beds  e,  in 
diagram  6 ;  &,  6,  are  beds  of  pudding-stone,  tilted  up  at  a  high 
inclination,  with  the  pebbles  lying  vertically,  and  not,  as  they 
were  first  deposited,  on  their  longest  axes  ;  c,  c,  a  col,  or  pas- 
sage excavated  in  the  soft  slate  of  the  mountains ;  d,  d,  per- 
pendicular plates  of  granitic  beds,  with  pyramidal  caps,  called 
aiguilles  or  needles.     The  dotted  lines  mark  the  supposed 
original  prolongation  of  the  beds,  before  the  granite  came  up, 
on  the  flanks  of  which  they  lie  at  an  inclination  varying  from 
65°  to  80°.     Mont  Blanc  is   15,534  feet  high,  and  the  pyra- 

*  From  Bake  well's  Geology. 


68  Feather stonhaugh^s  Geological  Report. 


midal  peaks,  which  time,  and  the  abrasions  consequent  upon 
their  upraising,  have  worn  into  their  present  forms,  were 
once,  in  part,  many  thousand  feet  beneath  the  now  lateral 
surface  of  the  stratified  beds  they  have  thrown  into  this  high 
inclination.  These  sections  show  that  mountainous  chains 
may  have  been  upraised  at  any  of  the  periods  belonging  to 
the  succession  of  strata,  and  that  each  period  may  have  its 
peculiar  system  of  mountains.  To  a  great  extent,  this  has 
been  found  to  be  the  case,  and  geological  periods  of  elevation 
can  be  distinguished,  establishing,  not  chronologies  belonging 
to  the  present  order  of  nature,  but  to  the  great  history  of  sub- 
terranean dynamics,  to  which  the  present  varied  form  of  the 
earth  must  be  referred,  modified,  as  it  has  often  been,  by  the 
action  of  the  waters  invariably  displaced  by  these  elevations. 
The  practical  uses  to  be  derived  from  the  detailed  geological 
examination  of  mountains  and  ridges  are  numerous.  Where 
any  chain  or  series  of  parallel  ridges  is  productive  of  useful 
metals,  combustibles,  or  mineral  bodies,  all  its  parts  may  be 
investigated  with  a  view  to  trace  its  continuities ;  and  by  con- 
necting distant  points  having  the  same  mineral  structure, 
deposites  may  be  identified,  known  in  some  localities  to  be 
productive.  The  series  of  Alleghany  ridges,  hereafter  to  be 
spoken  of,  are  a  proper  field  for  the  exercise  of  these  inves- 
tigations. 

It  is  deserving  a  remark  here,  that  some  geologists  in 
Europe  who  have  bestowed  much  investigation  on  this  sub- 
ject, have  supposed  that  mountain  chains  elevated  at  the  same 
period  of  time  have  a  general  parallelism  in  their  magnetic 
bearing.  It  has  been  already  stated  that  many  of  the  tran- 
sition chains  of  Europe  trend  from  northeast  to  southwest, 
which  is  the  general  direction  of  the  series  just  spoken  of. 
If  this  conformity  of  bearing  could  be  established,  it  would 
lead  to  speculations  on  the  laws  of  the  elevating  power,  and 
perhaps  eventually  open  the  way  to  an  explanation  of  the 
principle  upon  which  the  structure  of  anticlinal  rocks  depends. 


Featherstorihaugh?  s  Geological  Report*  69 

In  this  country  our  investigations  on  this  subject  must  be  lim- 
ited to  the  Alleghany  series,  having  nothing  higher  than  the 
coal  measures,  except  the  tertiary  beds  of  flat  districts ;  the 
upheavings  therefore  of  some  of  those  secondary  chains  which 
have  been  described  by  that  eminent  geologist,  Elie  de  Beau- 
mont, as  forming  part  of  the  geological  phenomena  of  trans- 
Atlantic  countries,  are  not  exhibited  here.  There  being  no 
evidence  of  other  rocks  having  been  deposited  on  the  eastern 
flanks  of  the  Alleghanies  since  their  upheaving,  a  very  exten- 
sive portion  of  this  continent  must  probably  have  been  up- 
raised before  the  oolitic  system  in  Europe  was  deposited. 

Many  circumstances  concur  to  prove  that  some  of  these 
elevations  were  of  a  sudden  and  violent  nature,  the  chains 
coming  up  by  paroxysmal  movements  through  the  superin- 
cumbent ocean,  and  fracturing  and  contorting  the  strata 
through  which  they  were  forced.  Thus,  in  that  system  of 
elevations  which  includes  the  Pyrenees,  the  northern  Appe- 
nines,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  the  cretaceous  beds  are 
found  lying  in  the  greatest  disorder  on  the  tops  of  the  highest 
mountains,  with  the  tertiary  beds  undisturbed  and  horizontal 
in  their  vicinity,  showing  that  the  movement  took  place  be- 
tween the  deposition  of  the  chalk  and  the  tertiary.  Every 
cubic  foot  too  of  mineral  matter  would  displace  another  of 
water.  Here  we  have  a  phenomenon  of  another  kind,  pro- 
ducing singular  effects,  the  evidence  of  which  is  constantly 
before  us :  the  ocean  thrown  out  of  its  bed,  mighty  currents 
created,  the  ruptured  mineral  matter  broken  into  boulders, 
rounded  off  into  pebbles  and  gravel,  and  the  whole  deposited 
in  situations  where  their  relative  specific  gravity  and  the  inten- 
sity of  the  moving  power  would  carry  them.  Here  we  have 
the  origin  of  all  the  conglomerates,  those  indurated  gravels 
which  are  found  even  in  the  tin  mines,  low  down  in  the 
primary  rocks,  proving  the  great  antiquity  of  movements  of 
this  character.  Hence  are  derived  the  great  gravel  beds  in 
which  are  found  entombed  the  remains  of  the  ancient  masto- 


70  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

don  and  elephant,  the  victims  probably  of  the  movement  of  their 
period.  The  detritus  in  the  common  superficial  soil  of  the  coun- 
try is  an  admirable  study  for  the  young  geologist.  The  vast  col- 
lection of  gravelly  matter  which  is  found  almost  every  where 
on  the  surface  is  formed  from  the  ruins  of  rocks  of  anterior 
periods,  and  brought  there  by  the  agency  of  water.  There  is 
an  immense  collection  of  detritus  of  this  kind  at  the  city  of 
Washington,  and  especially  near  the  margin  of  the  Potomac,  at 
the  western  termination  of  New  York  avenue,  where  frag- 
ments even  of  the  fossiliferous  rocks  of  the  Alleghany  ridges, 
together  with  every  variety  of  specimens  of  the  rocks  consti- 
tuting the  Atlantic  primary  chain,  are  found,  all  of  which  detri- 
tus appears  to  be  consequent  upon  their  elevatory  movements. 

In  bringing  together  these  notices  and  views,  the  intention 
has  been  merely  to  give  a  direction  to  the  investigations  and 
reflections  of  the  student.  In  the  numerous  geological  treatises 
which  have  appeared  of  late  years,  he  will  find  the  most  in- 
teresting details  respecting  all  the  phenomena  which  have 
been  alluded  to.  He  will  there  also  find  abundant  informa- 
tion respecting  the  metalliferous  rocks,  and  the  nature  and 
direction  of  mineral  veins.  The  subject,  however,  is  too  in- 
teresting to  pass  over  without  pointing  to  some  phenomena  that 
will  be  found  extremely  interesting  to  those  who  are  turning 
their  attention  to  mining  in  the  United  States,  since  they 
constitute  some  of  the  principal  guides  of  practical  miners  in 
their  operations. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  iron,  without  the  use  of  which 
man  could  scarcely  have  achieved  his  own  civilization,  is  the 
most  abundant  of  all  the  metals,  and  is  found  more  or  less  in 
all  the  rocks.  In  the  inferior  rocks  it  is  found  in  veins  or 
immense  fissures  produced  by  dislocation,  in  the  compact 
metallic  state.  Immense  masses  of  this  kind  are  found  in  the 
State  of  Missouri,*  in  New  Jersey,  and  in  Franklin  county 
New  York.  These  have  all  evidently  had  a  direct  subterra- 

*  Report  1835,  pnge  52. 


. 

, 

Featherstonhaugh^s  Geological  Report.  71 

nean  origin,  whilst  the  hydrates  or  ferruginous  ores  of  the 
superior  beds  are  to  be  considered  generally  as  oxydes  de- 
rived from  them.  Many  of  the  ferruginous  sand  rocks  were 
doubtless  once  in  the  state  of  our  recent  bog  ores,  just  as 
many  conglomerates  and  great  rocks  were  once  in  the  state 
of  loose  gravel.  The  compact  metals,  with  the  exception  of 
the  sulphurets  of  lead  and  zinc,  have  their  principal  seat  in 
the  primary  beds,  either  in  veins  which  traverse  mineral 
masses,  or  disseminated  in  these  last.  These  veins  may  have 
either  mineral  or  metallic  matter,  or  both, in  them.  They  are 
vertical,  inclined,  and  horizontal,  often  running  in  parallel 
courses  as  if  they  had  a  contemporaneous  origin,  and  intersect- 
ing each  other  in  such  various  ways  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that 
many  of  the  intersected  ones  have  been  formed  prior  to  those 
by  which  they  are  intersected.  There  is  a  very  instructive 
exhibition  of  this  kind  at  Fudia,  one  of  the  Western  islands.* 
In  diagram  No.  8  is  a  representation  of  different  kinds  of 
mineral  veins  intersecting  the  gneiss,  and  of  the  dislocations 
which  have  taken  place  during  the  injection  of  some  of  these 
veins.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  striped  laminae  of  the  gneiss, 
produced  by  the  plates  of  mica,  which  once  were  continuous, 
have  their  continuity  interrupted,  as  if  they  had  been  violently 
separated,  and  one  portion  shifted  higher  up,  or  depressed 
below  the  natural  level.  To  the  left  is  a  vein  of  granite  in- 
tersecting the  gneiss,  and  itself  intersected  and  shifted  by  a 
vein  of  quartz.  At  the  top  is  another  vein  of  granite  inter- 
secting the  gneiss,  and  again  intersected  by  a  vein  of  trap. 
It  is  to  be  inferred  from  these  appearances,  that  the  veins  of 
granite,  and  perhaps  the  trap  vein,  had  penetrated  the  gneiss 
before  it  had  taken  its  indurated  state,  and  that,  posterior  to 
its  induration,  a  dislocation  or  shifting  took  place,  occasioning 
the  fissure  filled  by  the  vein  of  quartz.  The  dislocations  of 
strata  occasioned  by  the  exertion  of  such  intense  subterra- 

*  McCulloch's  Western  Islands, 


*'.  -',.. 

12  Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

nean  power  frequently  interrupt  the  operations  of  miners, 
who,  finding  the  continuity  of  the  beds  interrupted  by  the 
sinking  or  rising  of  one  portion  of  them,  have  applied  the 
technical  term  fault  to  them.  Where  these  occur,  a  mining 
district  has  to  be  studied  very  accurately  in  relation  to  them, 
for  it  is  evident  that  no  mining  operation  upon  a  large 
scale  can  be  carried  on  with  proper  economy,  both  as  to 
drainage  and  arrangement,  without  their  extent  and  direction 
being  first  known. 

By  studying  the  veniferous  rocks  we  perceive  that  veins 
are  not  only  earthy  or  mineral,  but  metallic  in  their  nature, 
and  that  some  are  posterior  to  others.  This  last  fact  has  in- 
duced some  persons  to  entertain  the  opinion  that  metals  are  of 
different  ages;  and  it  is  certainly  true  that  the  rarest  are 
usually  found  amongst  rocks  of  the  highest  antiquity.  The 
interesting  fact  also  has  been  established,  that  the  most  pro- 
ductive veins  have  a  general  direction  from  east  to  west. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  tin  veins  or  lodes  in  Cornwall,  as  well 
as  those  lodes  containing  copper.  The  veins  which  run  nearly 
north  and  south  are  not  as  metalliferous  as  the  others  which 
they  intersect.  Many  of  these,  called  fiucan,  in  Cornwall, 
are  filled  with  clay.  Clay  is  sometimes  found  in  the  copper 
veins;  and  as  other  metallic  veins  which  deviate  from  the  east 
and  west  course  contain  increasing  quantities  of  clay,  and  the 
flucan  or  clay  veins  running  from  north  to  south,  the  evidence 
seems  to  be  strong  that  there  are  different  systems  of  veins, 
the  more  minute  study  of  which  may  hereafter  lead  to  im- 
portant results  respecting  their  general  origin,  and  the  causes 
which  have  modified  their  contents.  The  ancient  Wernerian 
notion,  that  minerals  and  metals  settled  into  fissures,  from 
aqueous  solutions,  is  now  exploded,  and  the  more  general 
opinion  that  they  have  been  injected  from  below  has  been 
substituted  for  it ;  still  they  present  themselves  occasionally 
under  such  circumstances  as  baffle  our  judgments.  We  do 
not  understand  why  veins  are  sometimes  extremely  dilated, 


Feather  slonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  73 

then  contracted  into  a  very  small  space,  and  afterwards  dilated 
again  into  pockets,  resembling  a  number  of  blown  bladders 
connected  by  a  long  wire.  Another  curious  phenomenon  is, 
that  their  contents  are  modified  on  entering  a  different  rock  ; 
they  usually  have  a  case  or  sheath  differing  from  the  mineral 
matter  of  the  rocks  they  are  found  in.  The  walls  of  sulphu- 
ret  of  lead,  in  passing  through  sandstone,  are  often  formed 
of  sulphate  of  barytes,  but,  on  entering  the  limestone  above, 
they  change  to  carbonate  of  barytes,  in  balls,  with  a  radiated 
diverging  structure.  Sulphuret  of  zinc  is  sometimes  abundant 
in  the  upper  part  of  veins,  that  lower  down  become  rich  in 
copper  ;  and  in  the  mine  of  Cook's  kitchen,  Cornwall,  after 
first  working  through  tin,  and  then  through  copper,  to  the 
depth  of  eleven  hundred  feet,  tin  is  again  found,  and  worked 
to  the  depth  of  near  thirteen  hundred  feet.  The  same  vein, 
at  Dalcoath  mine,  is  sometimes  contracted  to  six  inches,  and 
sometimes  dilated  to  forty  feet.  Although  it  appears  demon- 
strable that  the  contents  of  many  metallic  veins  have  been 
injected  from  below,  it  appears  probable  that  the  contents  of 
others  have  been  modified  by  chemico-electric  action,  and  that 
metals  may  be  formed  by  processes  analogous  to  those  upon 
which  the  formation  of  saline  crystals  depends.  Mines  which 
have  been  closed,  on  account  of  inundation,  for  two  centuries, 
have,  on  being  re-opened,  exhibited  the  curious  spectacle  of 
native  silver  coating  the  wooden  supports  which  had  been  left 
there.  The  walls  of  veins  and  the  atmosphere  may  stand  in 
the  relation  of  galvanic  plates  to  each  other,  and  decompose 
and  recompound  gaseous  bodies. 

Many  of  the  appearances  which  have  been  alluded  to  are 
of  constant  occurrence  in  the  United  States.  In  the  aurifer- 
ous region  of  this  country  the  course  of  the  principal  produc- 
tive veins  is  from  northeast  to  southwest. 

Where  metalliferous  veins  abound,  red  earth  is  usually  found 
in  great  abundance.  It  seems  to  have  a  constant  connexion 
with  them.  It  is  very  much  the  case  in  the  United  States,  is 


74  Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

general  in  Mexico  and  in  Brazil.  In  Spix's*  account  of  this  last 
country,  it  is  stated  that  the  granite  hills,  both  on  the  coast  and 
in  the  interior,  are  "  covered  by  a  pretty  thick  stratum  of  a  red 
ferruginous  clay."  The  same  deposite  of  red  clay  is  found  in 
the  lead-mining  district  of  this  country,  near  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  Upon  the  occasion  of  my  visit  to  the  Missouri  mines 
in  1834,  I  was  exceedingly  struck  with  the  appearances  which 
presented  themselves  in  a  gallery!  upwards  of  one  hundred 
feet  from  the  surface,  and  which  was  below  the  surface  by  at 
least  ninety  feet  of  the  rock  formation.  There  the  broad  veins 
of  bright  galena  were  incased  in  a  thick  wet  paste  of  red 
argillaceous  matter,  cutting  with  a  waxy  aspect.  In  one  of 
the  pockets,  about  forty  feet  from  top  to  bottom,  arid  about  the 
same  width  in  diameter,  the  cavity  was  filled  with  this  red 
clay,  except  at  the  bottom,  which  was  occupied  by  a  large 
plate  of  galena,  that  seemed  to  have  sunk  there  by  its  own 
gravity.  Although  some  of  the  red  soil  of  the  metalliferous 
districts  of  the  Southern  States  may  be  derived  from  the  de- 
composition of  ferruginous  slates  and  rocks,  a  great  portion  of 
it  may  have  been  brought  to  the  surface  from  situations  analo- 
gous to  those  where  it  is  found  incasing  the  sulphuret  of  lead 
in  Missouri. 

In  the  United  States  both  copper  and  iron  are  associated 
with  the  gold,  especially  the  last.  In  the  gnleniferous  districts, 
the  lead  is  found  associated  with  zinc,  and  is  usually  confined 
to  the  carboniferous  limestone.  Some  of  the  metals,  however, 
which  are  usually  found  in  veins,  form  occasionally  a  constit- 
uent part  of  the  solid  rock :  thus,  tin  is  incorporated  with  the 
granite  in  England ;  and  the  sulphuret  of  lead  in  Missouri,  at 
Mine  la  Motte,  is  sometimes  disseminated  for  a  great  extent 
in  specks  through  the  rock,  as  though  the  stony  and  metallic 
matter  must  necessarily  have  been  deposited  at  the  same  time: 
for,  as  I  stated  upon  a  former  occasion,  if  either  of  them  were 

*  Vol.  1,  page  251.  fTapIit  and  Perry's  Mines. 


Feather stonhaugW s  Geological  Report.  75 

abstracted,  no  principle  of  adhesion  would  be  left  for  the  re- 
maining mineral.*  Very  little  attention  appears  to  have  been 
paid  to  this  circumstance,  which,  as  respects  the  origin  of 
rocks,  deserves  some  consideration.  If  such  strata  as  the  car- 
boniferous limestone,  bearing  galena,  were  deposited  by  water, 
how  came  the  metal  to  be  so  singularly  suspended  in  and  inter- 
mixed with  the  stratum,  when,  by  the  law  of  gravitation,  it 
should  be  found  separated  from  the  calcareous  matter  ?  1  have 
seen  in  the  gold  region  of  this  country  deceptive  veins,  which 
have  been  the  occasion  both  of  disappointment  and  litigation. 
Veins,  apparently  very  rich,  have  suddenly  been  stopped  by 
slates  coming  in  below.  Upon  examination,  these  turned  out 
to  be  flat  veins,  or  the  overflow  of  true  veins,  as  trap  is  some- 
times known  to  come  up  vertically,  and  overflow  to  the  right 
and  left. 

The  successful  pursuit  of  the  art  of  mining  for  the  metals 
which  have  now  been  mentioned,  essentially  depends  upon 
the  application  of  some  scientific  information.  The  want  of 
a  proper  degree  of  information  on  this  subject  has  occasioned 
hitherto,  in  this  country,  as  it  did  heretofore  in  older  mining 
countries,  the  rejection  of  many  valuable  minerals,  from  igno- 
rance of  their  natures,  to  say  nothing  of  the  losses  sustained 
by  the  rude  and  unskilful  manner  in  which  the  mines  are 
often  worked.  There  are  instances  in  Cornwall  of  silver  and 
cobalt  having  been  thus  thrown  away  from  a  mine  which, 
since  the  discovery  of  their  value,  produces  £10,000  sterling  a 
year  from  the  same  ores.  The  mines  of  Missouri  have  been 
worked  a  long  time,  but  it  is  only  recently  that  cobalt  has  been 
observed  there.  Whilst  Cornwall  was  esteemed  only  as  a  tin 
country,  the  copper  ores  were  considerated  to  spoil  the  vein, 
and  were  used  to  mend  the  roads  ;  and  in  Derbyshire,  a  public 
road  has  actually  been  taken  up,  and  smelted  profitably  from 
the  rejected  lead  ores  that  had  not  been  in  familiar  use.  It  is 

*  Report  1835,  p.  48. 


76  Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

the  cultivation  of  geological  knowledge  that  has  led  to  so  much 
minute  investigation  of  the  nature  of  veins,  and  to  that  proper 
degree  of  chemical  information  which  has  redeemed  the 
mining  interest  from  the  rude  management  of  the  common 
miner,  and  introduced  those  truly  economical  practices  which 
are  only  united  by  science  and  experience. 

An  opinion  once  obtained  that  below  a  given  depth  the 
veins  ceased  to  be  productive  ;  tin  from  twenty  to  sixty  fathoms 
was  supposed  to  be  most  abundant,  and  copper  from  forty  to 
fifty.     This  has  become  a  speculation  of  some  importance  to 
the  gold  mining  interest  here,  some  of  the  mines  having  been 
abandoned  because  the  veins  seemed  to  fail  even  at  twenty 
fathoms.     Of  late,  the  mines  in  Cornwall  have  been  worked 
at  very  great  depths,  with  the  best  results.     Being  a  few  years 
ago  in  the  Botalloch  mine,  in  that  country,  I  found  them  work- 
ing in  a. copper  vein  at  the  depth  of  950  feet,  which  I  was  in- 
formed was  the  best  ore  they  had  yet  met  with.     Others,  such 
as  the  consolidated  mines,  are  worked  in  England  at  a  depth 
of  more  than   1,600  feet;  and  one  of  the  continental  mines, 
the  Kits  Piihl  copper  mine,  in  Tyrol,  at  a  depth  of  near  2,800 
feet.     Reasoning  from  analogy,  it  would  seem  a  hasty  pro- 
ceeding, after  expending  a  capital  in  mining  machinery,  to 
abandon  before    a  depth  of  at  least   500  feet  had  been  in- 
vestigated.    If  the  mineralogical  structure  of  the  mines  was 
totally  different  from  that  of  the  older  mines,  there  would  be 
greater  grounds  for  apprehension,  working  in  the  face  of  an 
unknown  state  of  things,  but  the  analogical  structure  of  the 
metalliferous  rocks  in  both  hemispheres  holds  out  every  en- 
couragement to  the  mining  interest   in  this :  the  veins   are 
found  in  the  same  kind  of  rocks,  and  have  nearly  the  same 
magnetic  direction.     In  the  gold  countries  the   mass  of  the 
veins  is  usually  quartz,  bearing  visible  native  gold,  and  asso- 
ciated with  iron,  as  well  as  gold  in  a  mineralized  state  with  that 
and  the  quartz  when  invisible.     In  the  gold  region  of  the 
United  States,  these  veins  are  easily  distinguished,  consisting 


Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  77 

of  extended  lines  of  white  quartz  running  on  the  surface  in  a 
direction  from  N.  N.  E.  to  S.  S.  W.,  and  frequently  with  an 
almost  vertical  inclination.  In  the  great  geographical  extent 
of  that  region  here,  many  portions  of  which  are  yet  unexplored, 
there  may  be  rich  deposites  contained  in  mineral  masses  of  a 
different  character,  as  is  the  case  in  Brazil,  upon  the  Gongo 
Soco  estate,  of  which  a  brief  description  may  be  useful. 

The  gold  in  this  locality  has  been  occasionally  so  abundant, 
that  140  pounds  have  been  extracted  in  one  day.  The  bed 
in  which  the  gold  is  found  is  called  jacotinga  in  the  country, 
and  rests  upon  a  ferruginous  talcose  state,  resembling  that  of 
various  localities  in  Virginia.  The  jacotinga  itself  consists 
of  quartz  and  micaceous  iron,  and  the  whole  mass  is  in  a  some- 
what soft  state  of  decomposition.  It  has  a  direction  from  east 
to  west,  and  is  of  a  variable  thickness,  with  a  limited  extent. 
Towards  the  centre  of  this  bed,  a  subordinate  bed  or  vein  is 
found,  of  a  brownish-black  color,  of  a  softer  quality  than  the 
general  bed,  and  more  or  less  distinct  from  it.  It  is  from  three 
to  six  feet  in  thickness,  and  consists  of  layers  of  manganese 
from  thin  lines  to  two  or  three  inches  in  thickness,  with  talc 
and  iron  glance  in  irregular  strings  and  nests.  It  is  in  these 
dark-colored  layers  of  manganese  that  the  rich  strings  and 
bunches  of  native  gold  are  found,  which  is  also  invisibly  dis- 
seminated among  the  layers. 

When  the  auriferous  region  of  this  country  shall  have  been 
more  generally  examinedj  other  associate  metals  may  possibly 
be  discovered.  In  the  Ural,  platinum  has  been  abundantly 
found,  but  more  generally  on  the  wrestern  or  European  side  ; 
the  gold  washings  on  the  Asiatic  side  giving  comparatively  a 
small  quantity  of  platinum.  Baron  Humboldt  also  states  that 
the  Cali  chain  of  the  Cordilleras,  in  South  America,  separates 
the  gold-bearing  sands  of  the  eastern  declivity  of  Popayan 
from  the  sands  of  the  isthmus  of  the  Raspadura  of  Choco, 
which  are  rich  in  platinum  as  well  as  gold.  These  analogies 
are  interesting  to  this  country.  Engelhardt  remarked,  when 


78  Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

in  Russia,  that  the  sands  of  some  of  the  platinum  mines  re- 
sembled those  Brazilian  sands  in  which  diamonds  were  found. 
Humboldt  subsequently  perceived  the  same  resemblance ;  and 
in  consequence  of  his  suggestions,  a  search  was  made,  and 
very  fine  diamonds|discovered :  so  that  the  Ural  mountains, 
which  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  portions  of  the  gold  region 
of  the  United  States,  produce  gold,  silver,  platinum,  and  dia- 
monds.* 

The  carboniferous  limestones  are  the  next  metallic  deposi- 
tories, both  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  of  which  some 
account  was  given  in  my  report  of  last  year ;  and  as  it  will 
occur  to  me  in  another  part  of  this  report  to  speak  of  the  coal 
measures  of  the  United  States,  with  their  associates,  salt  and 
iron,  I  shall  pass  on  to  a  brief  review  of  the  organic  remains 
found  in  the  beds  which  have  been  enumerated — a  subject  of 

*  A  late  paper  by  Sir  David  Brewster,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Geological  So- 
ciety of  London,  vol.  3.  part  3,  on  "the  structure  and  origin  of  the  diamond," 
brought  to  my  recollection  a  note  which  Professor  Del  Rio  sent  me  some  years 
ago,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation : 

"  I  was  shown,  towards  the  end  of  1822,  two  small  diamonds,  which  were  stated 
to  be  brought  from  the  environs  of  Sultepeque;  that  is  not  exactly  their  locality, 
but  it  is  upon  that  route.  In  truth,  D.  Vincente  Guerrero  found  in  the  Sierra 
Madre,  in  the  south  of  Mexico,  upon  a  height  of  land  distant  a  day  and  a  half 
from  Tdtela  del  Rio,  in  descending  by  Coronilla,  some  geodes,  with  amethyst  and 
rock  crystal  in  their  interior.  These  geodes  were  smallest  towards  the  surface, 
and  only  became  larger  in  digging  deeper  down.  On  breaking  these  geodes,  true 
octohedral  and  dodecahedral  diamonds  were  found  in  some  of  them,  resembling 
those  of  India  and  Brazil.  I  am  not  too  credulous,  but  I  have  been  assured  of  the 
fact  by  persons  who  deserve  to  be  confided  in.  This  unexpected  manner  of  find- 
ing diamonds  becomes  the  more  remarkable,  because  the  geodes  are  not  found  dis- 
seminated in  the  loose  soil,  but  are  imbedded  in  a  hard  and  stony  mass,  rendering 
it  necessary  to  get  them  out  with  pickaxes  and  crowbars." 

Mr.  Del  Rio  subsequently  informed  me  that  General  Guerrero  had  personally 
confirmed  this  account  to  him,  adding,  that  the  geodes  containing  the  precious 
stones  rattled  when  shook ;  but  he  had  never  been  able  to  ascertain,  from  any 
quarter,  the  geological  character  of  the  bed  containing  the  geodes.  The  late  Dr.  _. 
Voysey  states  the  matrix  of  the  diamonds  in  southern  India  to  be  a  sandstone 
breccia,  of  the  clay-slate  formation,  which  may  be  the  case  with  this  Mexican  lo- 
cality; I  have  frequently  written  to  Mexico  without  obtaining  any  satisfaction  on 
this  subject. 


Feathers tonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  79 

the  highest  moment,  replete  with  phenomena  which  serve  to 
prove  that  the  succession  of  strata  produced  by  such  various 
and  wide-spread  convulsions  as  would  seem  to  belong  to  the 
chaotic  energies  of  a  system  of  destruction,  are  the  progressive 
steps  of  a  most  singularly  beautiful  plan  of  creation,  in  the 
study  of  which  we  may  not  only  advance  our  personal  inter- 
ests, but  acquire  for  ourselves  an  elevation  of  mind  still  more 
valuable. 

An  opinion  formerly  obtained  that  there  was  a  point  in  the 
ascending  series  of  rocks  at  which  the  evidences  of  a  com- 
mencement of  organic  forms  was  to  be  found,  the  earth  passing 
by  transition  as  it  were,  from  an  inorganic  to  an  organic  state. 
This  appears  to  have  been  conjectural.  It  is  true,  calcareous 
matter,  so  essential  to  organization,  is  comparatively  scarce  in 
the  primordial  rocks,  and  only  begins  to  abound  where  organic 
life  appears.  The  high  temperature  of  the  planet  before  the 
deposition  of  the  stratified  rocks  would  preclude,  perhaps,  the 
possibility  of  organic  existence,  and  we  may,  therefore,  natu- 
rally expect  to  find  the  evidence  of  it  first  in  beds  deposited 
from  water,  where  the  temperature,  though  high,  would  be  tol- 
erable, and  where  the  means  of  self-preservation  and  per- 
petuity of  kinds  would  not  be  wanting ;  but  it  is  no  longer 
pretended  that  the  first  rudiments  of  organization  have  been 
observed,  or  even  that  we  know  what  they  were.  There  are 
observations,  however,  of  importance  to  be  made  on  this  sub- 
ject in  the  early  periods  of  stratification.  If  primordial  rocks 
of  the  same  kind,  separated  by  the  greatest  geographical  dis- 
tances, have  the  same  species  of  crystallized  minerals  imbedded 
in  them,  we  also  find  organic  affinities  very  general  in  the 
older  stratified  rocks,  from  whence  the  inference  may  be  drawn 
that  the  influences  prevailing  at  these  two  periods,  though  dis- 
tinct, were  general  to  the  planet.  At  an  older  period  of  the 
history  of  the  planet,  we  do  not  find  this  to  be  the  case  :  the 
increase  of  genera  and  species  seems  to  mark  great  changes 
in  the  temperature,  as  well  as  in  the  surface  of  the  crust  of  the 


80  Featherstonhaugh?  s  Geological  Report. 

earth,  as  it  gradually  emerged  from  the  water,  and  approached 
more  to  the  present  order  of  nature.  Although  we  cannot  say 
that  we  have  any  evidence  in  the  rocks  of  the  germs  of  organi- 
zation, yet  the  fossils  of  the  first  great  transition  group,  as  it 
has  been  called,  appear  to  be  the  types  of  what  have  suc- 
ceeded to  them.  The  Crustacea  of  that  period  naturally  fall 
into  the  class  of  their  order  which  has  been  established  from 
recent  genera,  as  well  as  the  prodigous  abundance  of  madre- 
pores and  corallines,  whose  structures  in  those  ancient  geologi- 
cal times  were  apparently  reared  with  the  same  instinctive 
designs,  and  principally  by  the  same  genera  of  which  we  have 
evidence  in  the  reefs  of  eastern  Polynesia. 

The  crinoidea  also,  or  encrinites,  now  nearly  extinct,  are 
abundant.  In  these  ancient  times  this  family,  as  if  less  ex- 
posed to  destruction  from  the  existing  state  of  organization  in 
the  then  seas,  had  their  soft  parts  but  slightly  protected,  whilst 
in  the  succeeding  formations  in  the  older  groups,  where  the 
predacious  classes  increase  in  number,  they  are  much  better 
secured.  The  sole  species  now  existing,  the  pentacrinite, 
agrees  with  these  last  in  its  more  perfect  osseous  structure,  which 
still  seems  to  have  been  insufficient  to  protect  the  family. 

The  beds  of  this  group  also  contain  fine  specimens  of  another 
family  which  appears  to  have  become  extinct  at  an  early  period 
of  the  secondary  rocks.  These  belong  to  the  genus  orthocera, 
a  long  straight  fossil,  consisting  of  various  chambers,  with  a 
siphon  or  tube,  by  the  aid  of  which  the  cephalopodous  animal 
is  supposed  to  have  been  able  to  pass  from  the  top  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea  at  its  pleasure  ;  resembling  in  this  the  ammonite, 
another  concamerated  shell,  not  straight  but  spiral  in  its  form, 
and  which,  with  other  concamerated  shells,  is  found  in  the 
limestones  of  this  lower  group. 

The  trilobite,  a  singular  marine  crustaceous  animal,  is  a  fos- 
sil almost  peculiar  to  the  period  of  this  group,  since  it  appears 
to  have  become  extinct  in  the  early  part  of  the  deposition  of 
secondary  rocks.  Some  of  the  lower  slates  are  covered  with 


Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  81 

their  impressions,  showing  that  the  same  species  lived  and  died 
in  the  same  localities.  A  great  variety  of  forms  belong  to  this 
family,  and  new  genera  are  constantly  being  discovered,  per- 
haps some  of  them,  as  the  agnostus  pisiformis,  may  be  the 
young  of  another  kind,  before  the  change  of  form.  Some  of 
the  species  are  faund  identically  diffused  in  very  distant  parts 
of  the  earth. 

The  bivalves  of  this  group  consist  of  a  very  preponderating 
number  of  the  brachiopode  family,  the  producta,  spirifera,  and 
terebratula.  The  fossiliferous  beds  of  this  group  are  generally, 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  characterized  by  these  shells,  and 
sometimes  almost  entirely  consist  of  them.  The  spirifera  re- 
ceive their  name  from  one  kind  having  a  spiral  structure  inside, 
which  is  calcareous  in  calcareous  fossils,  and  siliceous  where, 
as  frequently  happens  in  the  calcareous  beds  of  the  United 
States,  the  fossils  are  entirely  siliceous.  The  producta  appear 
to  have  become  extinct  before  the  deposition  of  the  oolitic 
system,  and  the  spirifera  only  to  have  been  continued  into  the 
first  beds  of  that  series.  The  terebratula  have  survived  them 
both,  and  exist  now  as  recent  shells.  The  cardia^  likewise 
having  a  strong  resemblance  to  existing  shells,  are  contem- 
poraneous with  the  last. 

All  these  families  of  marine  fossil  remains  are  found  in  this 
lower  group  in  the  United  States.  In  the  lower  limestones  of 
the  Shenandoah  valley,  in  Rockingham  county,  both  trilobites 
and  ammonites  are  found.  Near  Kingsport,  in  Tennessee, 
orthocera  abound  in  the  same  formation,  as  well  as  other  spiral 
concamerated  shells.  At  Trenton  falls,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  fine  specimens  of  trilobites  are  collected.  A  great  num- 
ber of  localities  might  be  added. 

Mr.  Agassiz,  in  his  work,*  gives  admirable  figures  of  the 
fossil  fish'  found  in  this  group.  In  this  remarkable  production, 
the  author  has  begun  to  throw  light  from  another  source  upon 

*  Recherches  sur  les  Poissons  FossUes.    Neuchutel,  1835. 
6 


82  Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

the  history  of  the  ancient  ocean,  which  harmonizes  with  every 
other  branch  of  organic  existence.  Of  the  four  orders  offish 
established  by  him,  the  two  first,  placoidians  and  ganoidians, 
exclusively  occupy  the  groups  below  the  chalk.  It  appears 
that  the  vertebrated  animals  of  the  waters  of  that  period  be- 
longed altogether  to  a  class  which  constitutes  a  very  small 
portion  of  the  existing  ones.  The  fishes  of  this  period,  all  of 
which  preceded  the  saurians,  show  an  approximation  to  their 
structure,  as  if  nature  was  preparing  for  them.  Those  long 
pointed  substances  called  ichthyodorulites,  which  are  also 
found  in  the  lowest  parts  of  this  group,  Mr.  Agassiz  considers  to 
have  belonged  to  a  large  shark-like  fish.  This  ancient  period, 
therefore,  instead  of  being  almost  devoid  of  life,  appears  to 
have  possessed  the  types  of  a  great  portion  of  the  different 
orders  of  marine  animals  now  existing,  the  individuals  of  which 
were  all  perfect  in  their  structure  for  the  ends  they  were 
intended  to  accomplish,  and  had  a  sufficient  analogy  to  what 
exists  at  present,  to  warrant  the  opinion  that  they  were  amongst 
the  steps  of  a  general  plan  of  progression,  accommodated 
entirely  to  the  then  existing  state  of  the  surface  of  the  planet, 
and  only  preceding  others,  which  further  changes  in  the  sur- 
face would  call  into  existence. 

Nor  was  this  group,  which  includes  all  the  anthracite  beds, 
without  its  proportion  of  dry  land,  as  we  find  from  the  vege- 
table remains  accompanying  that  carboniferous  deposite,  and 
which  have  a  common  character  both  in  North  America  and 
Ireland.  The  equisetacece,  or  horse-tail  tribe,  not  of  the  limited 
height  of  recent  plants  of  this  family,  three  or  four  feet  high, 
but  many  of  them  equalling  forest  trees  in  size.  A  prepon- 
derating number  of  /dices,  or  the  fern  tribe,  both  herbaceous 
and  arborescent.  The  lycopodiacea,  or  club-moss  tribe,  there 
also  attained  a  size  equal  to  existing  forest  trees,  whilst  their 
puny  recent  representatives  are  seen  creeping,  as  it  were,  in  a 
moss-like  form,  not  more  than  two  or  three  feet  long,  over  the 
beds  where  their  gigantic  predecessors  are  entombed.  All 


Feathcrstonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  83 

these  plants  are  closely  allied  to  the  ferns  and  fernlike  plants 
which  grow  in  such  luxuriance  in  the  hot  and  moist  situations 
of  tropical  climates,  especially  in  small  insular  localites, 
and  which  are  never  found  out  of  the  tropics.  These  are 
amongst  the  first  and  decided  evidences  we  have  that  the  cli- 
mate in  those  remote  times  must  have  been  of  a  constant  high 
temperature,  far  exceeding  any  thing  known  to  the  present 
order  of  nature,  and  equally  humid,  for  these  immense  plants 
of  a  tropical  growth,  which,  also,  with  occasional  palms,  form 
the  great  mass  of  the  fossil  plants  of  the  bituminous  coal 
measures,  are  found  in  a  fossil  state  in  ver^  high  northern  lati- 
tudes, and  under  circumstances  which  prove  that  they  grew 
there.  Coniferous  plants  also  have  been  found,  showing  that 
the  low  regions  had  their  elevated  countries,  like  the  tropical 
regions  of  our  own  times. 

Taking  fossils  for  our  guide,  the  carboniferous  limestone, 
millstone  grit  and  shale,  and  the  bituminous  coal  measures, 
may  be  viewed  as  the  upper  part  of  the  group  which  has  been 
considered,  on  account  of  the  strong  generic  resemblances  of 
their  organic  remains ;  for  although  the  trilobites,  the  producta, 
and  some  other  genera  become  less  abundant,  there  is  a 
surprising  increase  of  the  zoophytes  and  radiaria,  many  of  the 
beds  being  entirely  composed  of  corals  and  encrinites.  The 
environs  of  Nashville,  in  Tennessee,  where  the  genus  asterias 
has  been  found,  the  rocks  of  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  at  Louis- 
ville, and  the  shore  of  the  Mississippi  between  Herculaneum 
and  St.  Louis,  are  amongst  the  richest  localities  for  fossils  of 
the  carboniferous  limestone. 

Looking,  therefore,  at  the  whole  of  the  fossiliferous  beds 
hitherto  considered,  the  student  of  ancient  nature  can  here 
contemplate  a  spectacle  of  the  most  surprising  character,  and 
of  which  no  pursuit  but  geology  could  lead  to  the  disclosure. 
He  sees  the  types  of  much  of  what  exists  in  the  present  order 
of  nature  in  the  rocks  that  bear  the  first  evidences  of  organi- 
zation, and  inferring  from  the  resemblances  what  their  probable 


84  Feather stonhavgh's  Geological  Report. 

habits  were,  he  can,  with  the  aid  of  contingent  observations, 
decide  upon  reasonable  grounds,  where  were  the  deep  and 
where  were  the  shallow  places  of  these  now  petrified  oceans. 
Turning  to  the  land,  he  sees  the  proofs  of  a  luxuriance  of 
vegetation  unequalled  by  any  thing  in  modern  nature,  yet  in 
strict  harmony  with  natural  principles  :  still  the  evidences  of 
terrestrial  animals,  for  whose  use  plants  are  supposed  to  grow, 
are  wanting  ;  but  he  is  satisfied  to  believe  they  might  then 
not  have  been  called  into  existence,  and  that  an  extent  of 
vegetable  growth,  of  which  we  cannot  form  an  adequate  con- 
ception, was  intended  solely  for  the  accumulation  of  those  car- 
bonized deposites  without  which  our  own  race  must  ever 
have  remained  in  the  most  rude  and  comfortless  state. 

The  next  great  group  of  organized  bodies  may  be  con- 
sidered as  extending  to  the  tertiary,  and  is,  as  has  before  been 
remarked,  with  some  exceptions,  deficient  in  the  United  States, 
but  in  Europe  it  discloses  organized  forms  of  a  character  that 
almost  places  them  in  the  regions  of  romance.  Although  some 
changes  are  observed,  the  general  progression  is  going  steadily 
on.  The  belemnites  take  the  place  of  orthocera,  to  which 
they  are  akin  in  structure  ;  ammonites  begin  to  appear  in  great 
abundance,  especially  in  the  oolitic  system,  the  floors  of  some 
of  the  beds  of  the  lias  and  Oxford  clay  being  sometimes  found 
studded  with  them,  furnishing  a  certain  key  to  the  identifica- 
tion of  rocks.  Trilobites  give  place  to  other  Crustacea,  the 
astacus,  or  representative  of  the  recent  cray  fish.  The  fishes 
are  continued  in  this  group  belonging  to  the  same  orders  as 
the  last,  but  the  species  of  the  successive  formations  are  always 
distinct.  The  saurian  reptiles  now  begin  to  appear.  The 
monitor  is  found  before  the  deposition  of  the  oolitic  series, 
together  with  various  saurians  in  the  beds  which  precede  the 
lias,  Here  we  find  an  astonishing  quantity  of  these  voracious 
animals,  allied  to  those  crocodilean  reptiles  which  frequent  the 
bays,  the  estuaries,  and  the  rivers  of  our  own  southern  lati- 
tudes. Various  species  of  the  ichthyosaurus  ^  some  individuals 


Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  85 

of  which  have  jaws  near  nine  feet  in  length,  with  strong  pad- 
dles to  enahle  them  to  go  through  the  waters.  This  animal, 
to  the  vertebra  of  a  fish  unites  the  head  of  a  lizard  and  the 
powerful  teeth  of  a  crocodile.  The  plesiosaurus  is  another 
monster  with  the  head  of  a  lizard  and  a  singularly  long  neck, 
which  at  one  time  it  was  supposed  to  carry  after  the  manner 
of  a  swan  in  the  shallow  waters  near  the  shore,  but  which  it 
perhaps  projected  in  the  water  rather  after  the  manner  of  a 
serpent.  This  animal  also  has  paddles.  But  the  most  curious, 
because  we  have  nothing  which  resembles  them  nearer  than 
the  vampire  bat,  is  the  pterodactylus,  a  saurian  animal,  with 
extended  membranaceous  wings  ;  this  is  the  first  decided  case  of 
an  aerial  animal,  and,  like  the  rest,  was  undoubtedly  of  the  vora- 
cious kind.  The  smaller  skeletons  of  these  animals  are  usually 
found  in  the  lias,  much  flattened  from  the  great  pressure  upon 
them,  but  often  entire,  with  even  the  faeces  in  the  visceral 
region,  as  if  they  had  been  surprised  by  a  violent  and  sudden 
death  from  some  extraordinary  convulsion  which  had  happened 
and  in  the  consequent  results  of  which  their  remains  had  been 
immediately  enveloped  and  preserved.  The  faeces,  or  copro- 
lites,  as  they  are  now  termed,  have  been  analyzed,  and  their 
true  character  ascertained.  In  most  of  them,  the  scales  of  fish 
are  found,  and  in  some,  the  undigested  remains  of  the  young 
of  their  own  kind.  Notwithstanding  the  immense  period  of 
time  they  have  been  entombed,  some  of  the  teeth  and  bones 
of  these  animals  have  yielded  about  50  per  cent,  of  phosphate 
of  lime.  A  great  number  of  species  of  these  saurians  occur, 
besides  other  genera  which  are  not  mentioned  here.  The 
saurian  remains  of  the  United  States  have  been  hitherto  frag- 
mentary, and  belong  to  the  subcretaceous  beds.  This  group 
is  also  further  remarkable  for  having  produced  the  first  un- 
questionable remains  of  terrestrial  mammalia,  in  the  didelphoid 
quadruped,  as  it  is  usually  termed,  an  extinct  species  of  opos- 
sum, first  found  in  the  slaty  oolitic  beds  of  Stonesfield,  in  Ox- 
fordshire, lying  beneath  the  cornbrash.  Some  doubt  was  for- 


86  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

rneily  expressed  on  this  subject,  but  the  multiplication  of  spe- 
cimens of  late,  many  of  them  in  good  preservation,  have 
decided  the  question. 

The  wealden  group  is  too  remarkable  to  pass  over.  It 
consists  of  a  series  of  strata  of  limestone,  sands,  and  clay, 
deposited  from  fresh  water,  enclosed  as  it  were  between  forma- 
tions of  marine  origin.  The  fossil  shells  found  in  it  are  anal- 
ogous to  the  shells  now  living  in  fresh  water,  such  as  cyclas, 
unio,  paludina,  and  melania,  with  the  exception  of  some  that 
can  live  in  brackish  waters.  In  the  Purbeck  beds,  a  stratum 
of  oyster  shells  occurs  in  the  midst  of  a  series  of  other  strata, 
some  exclusively  containing  fresh-water  shells,  and  others  a 
mixture  of  both  fresh-water  and  marine.  These  beds  are  not 
only  extremely  interesting  on  account  of  the  very  rare  nature 
of  some  of  their  organic  remains,  which  form  the  greatest  or- 
naments of  geological  cabinets,  but  on  account  of  the  illustra- 
tion they  furnish  of  the  changes  of  level  to  which  strata  have 
sometimes  been  forced  by  geological  movements,  as  well  as  of 
the  fact  that  each  stratum  has  in  its  turn  been  the  bottom  of 
the  waters,  whether  marine  or  fresh.  In  the  Isle  of  Portland, 
a  small  tongue  of  land  which  projects  into  the  English  chan- 
nel, near  Weymouth,  a  fine  building-stone  is  quarried,  which 
is  of  undoubted  marine  origin,  and  of  course  was  once  the 
bottom  of  the  sea.  We  have  the  perfect  evidence  of  this  an- 
cient floor  of  the  ocean  having  been  uplifted  beyond  its  level, 
in  another  bed,  superincumbent  to  the  marine  one  below,  con- 
taining the  remains  of  an  ancient  forest  of  cycadese.  The 
stratum  in  which  this  forest  grew,  extends  through  a  consider- 
able area  in  England,  and  has  been  recognised  on  the  opposite 
French  coast.  The  trees,  now  silicified,  are  in  many  instances 
buried  in  a  black  earth,  in  which  they  grew,  which  is  about  a 
foot  thick,  and  is  called  by  the  quarry -men  "  dirt-bed."  Some 
of  the  trunks  of  the  trees  are  thirty  feet  long,  and  have  a  diam- 
eter of  three  or  four  feet.  Stumps,  also,  from  one  to  three 
feet  long,  separated  by  the  usual  distance  at  which  forest  trees 


Feathers tonhaugh's  Geological  fvport.  87 

grow,  ate  there  in  abundance,  with  their  i'oots  struck  into  the 
black  dirt;  these  stumps  ar<?  also  silicified.  At  Ludworth 
cove  (see  diagram  No.  9)  these  beds  are  at  an  inclination  of 
about  45  degrees.  The  thickness  of  this  bed  of  black  earth 
furnishes  some  measure,  though  of  an  indefinite  kind,  of  its 
duration,  since  it  must  be  considered  as  an  accumulation  of 
vegetable  matter  formed  subsequent  to  its  elevation  from  the 
sea.  Granting  to  the  forest  lands  of  the  United  States  the 
entire  duration  of  our  own  chronology,  they  do  not  show  evi- 
dences of  having  accumulated  vegetable  matter  to  that  extent, 
and  allowing  for  the  luxuriance  of  vegetation  consequent  upon 
the  ancient  climate,  a  very  long  period  may  at  least  be  con- 
ceded for  its  accumulation.  But  the  terrestrial  level  of  this 
bed  was  again  changed,  and  a  basin-like  form  given  to  it,  for 
the  collection  of  fresh  waters,  which  at  various  periods  have 
deposited  lacustrine  sediments,  1,000  feet  thick,  including  the 
whole  wealden  group.  During  the  existence  of  this  lake,  a 
new  race  of  monstrous  reptiles  appears — the  iguanodon,  which, 
from  the  organic  remains  collected,  appears  to  have  abounded 
there.  Mr.  Mantell,  the  discoverer  of  this  fossil  animal,  has 
named  it  thus  from  its  analogy  to  the  recent  iguana,  wHch  is 
an  omnivorous  animal,  and  from  various  fossil  bon^s  he  pos- 
sesses, has  made  a  comparative  proportional  estimate  of  the 
probable  size  of  the  individuals  of  some  genera,  of  which 
they  formed  a  part,  and  it  has  resulted  that  they  were  seventy 
feet  long  from  the  snout  to  the  end  of  the  tail,  were  near  fifteen 
feet  in  circumference,  and  that  the  tail  was  upwards  of  fifty- 
two  feet  long.  Besides  this  animal,  the  megalosaurus,  with 
more  than  one  species  of  crocodile,  and  various  fresh-water 
fish,  were  inhabitants  of  the  waters.  The  generations  of 
these  animals  were,  however,  to  cease,  for  we  find  these  fresh- 
water strata  changing  their  character  and  becoming  the  floor 
of  the  ocean,  the  whole  cretaceous  group,  of  marine  origin, 
and  about  1,000  feet  thick,  being  deposited  upon  them.  This 
was  probably  produced  by  a  reaction  of  the  cause  which  first 


88  Fecifyrslonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

elevated  the  whole  area,  and  afterwards  depressed  it  so  as  to 
give  the  ocean  once  more  dominion  over  it.  The  wealden 
group,  a  great  part  of  which  is  in  our  day  a  portion  of  the 
earth's  surface,  furnishes  most  instructive  proofs  of  the  changes 
of  level  to  which  the  land  was  subject  in  ancient  times.  In 
these  particular  instances  they  seem  to  have  been  accompanied 
by  no  violence,  and  no  evidences  of  great  abrasion  being  pres- 
ent, the  movement  would  seem  to  have  been  a  quiet  vertical 
one,  up  and  down;  for  the  high  inclination  of  the  beds  at  Lul- 
worth  cove  appears  to  belong  to  another  movement,  which 
took  place  subsequent  to  the  deposition  of  the  chalk,  and 
which  threw  the  thick  beds  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  upon  their 
edges,  in  the  manner  that  the  oolitic  beds  of  the  Alpine  chain 
are  represented  in  diagram  No.  7.  In  the  cretaceous  group, 
most  of  the  organic  remains  are  marine  ;  marine  plants,  corals, 
and  sponges  abound.  New  genera  of  fish  are  found  in  the 
chalk,  with  the  mososaurus  and  turtles.  Some  of  the  chalk 
fossils  are  extremely  beautiful. 

In  regard  to  the  vegetation  of  this  secondary  period,  a 
change  is  perceived  even  in  the  new  red  sandstone  group. 
The  eryptogamous  plants  of  the  ancient  period  become  less 
numerous  and  of  diminished  size,  as  if  the  temperature  already 
was  abating,  whilst  the  coniferous  or  fir  tribe  begins  distinctly 
to  appear.  In  il\e  beds  of  the  oolitic  and  chalk  formations, 
this  last  constitutes  <x  very  large  portion  of  the  vegetation.  Of 
the  cycadese,  several  species  of  zamia  occur  amongst  the  im- 
perfect coal  seams  of  the  lower  series,  and  constitute  a  forest, 
as  has  been  before  shown  in  the  wealden  group. 

The  tertiary  order  extends,  in  a  surprising  manner,  the  pro- 
gressive advance  towards  the  present  order  of  nature,  as  has 
before  been  noticed  in  the  remarks  on  Mr.  Lyell's  arrangement ; 
changes  of  level  appear  to  have  been  frequent,  marine  and 
fresh-water  beds  alternating.  Lacustrine  remains  increase, 
and  show  that  dry  land  and  fresh-water  streams  were  giving 
a  new  character  to  the  earth.  In  the  lowest  part  of  the  group 


Feathers lonhaugh^s  Geological  Report,  89 

we  have  the  first  evidence  of  varieties  of  terrestrial  mam- 
malia, the  bones  of  palceotherea,  and  other  genera,  imbedded 
in  gypseous  matter,  apparently  derived  from  springs  charged 
with  sulphate  of  lime. 

It  was  the  admirable  memoir  of  Cuvier  and  Brogniart,  of 
1811,  unequalled  in  interest  by  any  work  except  Buckland's 
account  of  the  Cave  of  Kirkdale,  which  announced  the  dis- 
covery of  these  extinct  quadrupeds  in  what  has  been  called 
the  Basin  of  Paris,  that  first  drew  public  attention  to  the  im- 
portance of  zoological  geology :  nor  could  there  be  a  more 
happy  coincidence  for  this  science  than  that,  whilst  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  one  of  the  largest  European  capitals,  some 
of  the  rarest  monuments  of  the  ancient  world  were  laid  im- 
bedded and  unnoticed  in  the  common  quarries  of  the  country, 
two  individuals  should  be  residing  there  singularly  fitted  by 
their  attainments  and  genius  to  comprehend  and  explain  the 
true  characters  of  these  paloeotherea,  and  the  geological 
period  of  their  existence.  The  Rev.  W.  D.  Conybeare, 
one  of  the  soundest  philosophers  and  most  attractive  writers 
of  the  age,  in  his  "  Report  on  the  progress,  actual  state, 
and  ulterior  prospects  of  geological  science,"  says  that  Smith's 
original  observations  respecting  the  distribution  of  organic 
remains  were  received  with  indifference,  "  until  the  high 
scientific  distinction  of  Cuvier,  and  the  striking  and  interest- 
ing nature  of  the  facts  developed  in  his  brilliant  memoir, 
excited  a  marked  sensation,  and  commanded  the  general  at- 
tention of  men  of  science  :  for  none  such  could  peruse  with 
indifference  those  masterly  descriptions,  which  exhibited  the 
environs  of  one  of  the  great  metropolitan  cities  of  Europe  as 
having  been  successively  occupied  by  oceanic  inundations  and 
fresh-water  lakes  ;  which  restored  from  the  scattered  fragments 
of  their  disjointed  skeletons  the  forms  of  those  animals,  long 
extinct,  whose  flocks  once  grazed  on  the  margins  of  those 
lakes ;  and  which  presented  to  our  notice  the  case  of  beds  of 
rock,  only  a  few  inches  in  thickness,  extending  continuously 


90  FeatherstonhaitgWs  Geological  Report. 

over  hundreds  of  square  miles,  and  constantly  distinguished 
by  the  same  peculiar  species  of  fossil  shells." 

But,  as  these  new  genera  come  on  the  stage,  the  saurian 
reptiles  disappear,  and  are  replaced  by  crocodiles  coming  near 
to  existing  species.  Ammonites  and  belemnites  cease,  and 
the  buccinea  begin  to  increase.  Many  of  the  fish  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  group  are  now  extinct,  but  the  greater  part  of  the 
genera  approach  the  living  ones,  and  are  most  analogous  to 
those  now  found  in  the  tropical  seas.  The  mastodon,  the  ele- 
phant, and  the  rhinoceros,  appear  in  the  upper  formations,  as 
well  as  on  the  existing  surface,  both  in  Europe  and  America. 
The  vegetation  of  these  periods  is  the  converse  of  what  it 
appeared  to  be  in  its  dawn,  dicotyledons,  or  plants  having 
bark,  wood,  and  pith,  being  the  most  numerous,  and  cryptoga- 
mous  plants,  without  sexual  organs,  being  least  in  number,  in 
accordance  with  the  present  order  of  nature. 

In  looking  over  this  imperfect,  but  still  faithful,  as  far  as  facts 
are  concerned,  sketch  of  the  geological  state  of  the  planet,  the 
student  will  perceive  the  elevated  character  of  this  science, 
furnishing,  as  it  does,  such  conclusive  reasonings  for  natural 
theology.  In  all  these  phenomena  we  see  the  evidences  of 
design.  If  we  try  them  by  physical  laws,  the  spheroidal  form 
of  the  earth  reveals  to  us  its  once  fluid  state,  and  chemistry 
informs  us  it  was  igneous  fluidity.  Here  we  see  the  truly 
magnificent  means  provided  for  causing  "  the  dry  land  to  ap- 
pear," through  the  once  circumambient  waters  of  the  globe. 
Every  new  exertion  of  this  subterranean  power  is  a  page  in 
its  ancient  history,  and  as  history  shows  the  beginnings  of 
nations  and  their  progress  onwards  to  civilization,  so  does 
each  additional  formation  of  rocks,  with  its  imbedded  fossils 
of  distinct  species,  from  the  earliest  zoophytes  to  the  elephant, 
show  the  design  of  creation  was  a  progressive  one,  whether 
we  look  to  the  aquatic  or  the  terrestrial  organic  bodies.  For 
those  ancient  remains  do  not  consist  of  forms  and  of  a  struc- 
ture so  strange  as  to  separate  them  entirely  from  the  more 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  91 

recent  acts  of  creation ;  on  the  contrary,  the  earliest  which 
appear  are  the  types  of  all  which  succeeded,  entering  natu- 
rally into  all  the  classifications  which  have  been  devised  for 
the  illustration  of  the  present  order  of  nature.  Of  this  pro- 
gression clear  proofs  have  been  adduced  in  the  preceding 
pages.  In  the  lowest  group  we  have  seen  that  the  fossils 
were  all  marine,  and  consisted  of  corallines,  encrinites,  bi- 
valves, concamerated  and  other  molluscous  shells,  extinct 
Crustacea,  and  fishes  of  a  voracious  character  approaching  the 
saurian  family.  Such  a  state  of  ancient  zoology  is  in  perfect 
harmony  with  that  condition  of  the  earth's  surface  which  we 
deduce  from  other  considerations.  The  ocean,  though  not 
deep,  as  it  is  now,  constituted  almost  every  thing ;  dry  land 
was  comparatively  rare,  together  with  rivers,  bays,  and  fresh- 
water estuaries,  the  proper  haunts  of  the  saurian  race.  Still 
land  existed  at  the  latter  period  of  this  group,  as  we  find  by 
the  associate  plants  of  the  anthracite  coal  beds,  which  them- 
selves belong  exclusively  to  a  low  degree  of  organization. 
During  this  period  we  find  generic  resemblances  very  com- 
mon in  all  parts  of  the  world,  the  evidence  of  a  common 
temperature.  In  the  next  group  we  find  strong  resemblances  to 
the  first,  in  organic  remains,  but  with  a  character  both  generally 
and  specifically  so  distinct  as  to  admit  of  an  undoubted  recog- 
nition of  the  beds  of  the  group  in  whatever  part  of  the  world 
they  may  be  found.  The  saurians,  the  pterodactylus,  the 
monitor,  the  crocodiles,  the  iguanodon,  the  deposition  of  ex- 
tensive fresh-water  areas,  the  existence  of  tropical  forests, 
of  the  bituminous  coal  measures,  the  changed  character  of  the 
fish,  the  existence  of  fresh-water  streams  and  lakes,  and  a 
gradual  approximation  to  the  present  superficial  arrangements, 
show  a  very  great  increase  of  the  land.  These  changes  of 
elevation  were  necessarily  accompanied  with  increased  depths 
of  the  sea,  and  the  consequent  introduction  of  numerous 
genera,  with  appropriate  habits,  not  before  noticed.  We  find 
also,  in  the  lower  pait  of  this  group,  important  deposites  of 


92  Feathers  tonhaugVs  Geological  Report. 

salt.  Before  these  greater  depths  of  the  ocean  had  been 
produced,  its  mean  depth  was  more  equally  distributed  over 
the  surface,  and  it  is  not  difficult  for  us  to  understand  how  vast 
beds  of  rock-salt  might,  under  such  circumstances,  be  formed, 
by  the  evaporation  of  the  waters  of  a  high  temperature.  In 
Europe  the  salt  is  usually  found  distributed  above  the  coal 
measures,  but  in  the  United  States  it  is  uniformly  found  lower 
down.  In  both  countries,  however,  the  saline  deposites 
generally  approach,  and  indicate  a  common  origin,  as  if  bodies 
of  salt  water  had  existed  in  such  situations,  perhaps  in  some 
cases  insulated,  as  to  produce  their  evaporation.  Superficial 
incrustations  of  the  same  mineral  are  now  found  in  various 
parts  of  the  west  of  Arkansas,  caused  by  solar  desiccation  of 
the  natural  salines.  In  the  tertiary  group,  the  fossils  are 
equally  characteristic  of  the  beds  of  the  group  in  every  part 
of  the  world,  receding  in  affinity  from  all  previously  examined 
in  proportion  to  their  periods,  but  united  by  a  common  plan 
anda  analogy.  A  slight  acquaintance  with  the  fossil  shells 
of  the  tertiary  strata,  will  enable  any  individual  to  identify 
the  beds.  Here  the  ammonites  become  extinct,  and  cones  and 
volutes  begin  to  abound.  Although  it  may  be  asserted  that 
the  various  fossiliferous  strata  contain  characteristic  organized 
bodies  by  which  strata  can  be  identified,  and  of  course  which 
separate  them  from  other  strata,  yet  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  all  the  fossils  of  equivalent  strata  are  identical  in  all 
countries,  although  some  of  them  are,  as  is  the  case  with  many 
living  species  in  both  hemispheres.  Whilst  congeners  in  age 
and  in  fact,  their  forms  are  influenced  by  physical  laws,  and 
particular  species  are  necessarily  geographically  limited  by 
climate  and  food.  Where  these  are  favorable,  all  the  species 
having  a  close  affinity  to  each  other  may  be  found  ;*  and 

*  Since  calcareous  matter  is  necessary  to  testaceous  animals,  we  must  infer  that 
a  change  in  the  mineral  nature  of  their  beds  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  pros- 
perous existence  of  any  animals  unsuited  to  it :  hence  we  find  the  greater  number 
ot  fossil  shells  in  limestone  beds,  and  in  calcareous  sandstones  and  shales;  very 


Feathers tonh a ugVs  Geological  Report.  93 

where  climate  and  food  are  not  favorable,  animals  of  the  same 
species  may  be  expected  to  present  a  marked  difference  in 
their  external  characters.  The  fine  horse  of  Arabia,  which  is 
cognate  with  the  zebra  of  Africa,  is  a  dwarf  variety  in  Shet- 
land, where  climate  and  food  have  limited  its  stature  and 
even  its  functions  so  much  that  the  mare  only  breeds  once  in 
two  years.  This  variety  of  external  configuration  is  common 
to  the  mollusca,  which  differ  almost  at  every  point  of  a  coast, 
as  we  see  from  the  great  variety  of  the  forms  of  oysters  ;  the 
same  may  be  observed  in  the  unio  of  fresh  waters,  where 
those  of  the  same  kind  affect  the  same  kind  of  locality.  If 
such  laws  influence  animals  and  plants  now,  we  may  reasonably 
suppose  them  to  have  influenced  them  in  geological  times,  under 
similar  circumstances.  Of  this  general  adaptation  of  causes  we 
have  singular  evidences  in  the  tertiary  group  :  the  surface  of 
the  earth  being  at  length  brought  into  a  new  and  appropriate 
state,  we  find  quadrupeds,  and  of  various  kinds,  beginning  to 
multiply,  all  of  them,  however,  no  doubt  suited  to  the  tempera- 
ture, which  appears  from  the  fossil  vegetables  found  in  high  lati- 
tudes to  have  still  had  a  general  tropical  character.  We  find 
the  elephants  of  our  own  period  thus  accommodated  to  par- 
ticular regions,  that  of  the  arctic  circle,  as  well  as  the  rhino- 
ceros, being  prepared  with  a  fleecy  covering.  But  although 
about  one-fourth  of  the  superficies  of  the  globe  has  become 
dry  land,  and  that  abundantly  fitted  for  every  class  of  terres- 
trial animals  known  to  us,  yet  most  important  races  continue 
to  disappear,  not  the  species  only,  for  with  the  exception  of 
some  found  in  the  tertiary,  all  the  species  in  whatever  strata 
found  are  extinct.  The  paloaotherea  and  the  mastodon  are  ex- 
tinct everywhere  ;  and  the  elephant,  whose  remains  we  find 
scattered  over  this  continent,  is  extinct  here  also.  The  mas- 
todon was  common  to  America,  to  Asia,  and  to  Europe,  and 

lew  comparatively  are  in  the  pure  argillaceous  shales,  which  were  probably  the 
ancient  muddy  bottoms  of  the  waters.  It  follows  from  this  reasoning  that  we  may 
expect  to  find,  as  we  generally  do,  the  same  class  of  animals  in  the  same  strata. 


94  Feather  stonhaugtfs  Geological  Report. 

we  know  nothing  of  the  causes  which  could  have  produced 
its  universal  extinction,  if  they  were  not  of  the  diluvial  charac- 
ter. Its  bones  have  been  found  here  mixed  up  with  those  of 
the  elephant,  and  the  megalonyx,  in  deposites  brought  toge- 
ther no  doubt  by  local  floods.  In  other  instances  skeletons 
have  been  found  nearly  entire,  buried  in  lacustrine  marls  of  a 
late  period,  and  in  one  instance  a  skeleton  was  found  not  quite 
covered  up  on  the  surface.  They  appear  to  have  existed 
during  the  present  order  of  nature,  but  in  no  instance  have 
we  any  evidence  of  their  being  contemporaneous  with  what 
may  strictly  be  called  the  historic  period,  no  vestige  of  any 
thing  which  has  any  relation  to  the  human  race  ever  having 
been  found  mixed  up  with  their  remains. 

One  of  the  circumstances  which  makes  this  science  so 
interesting  to  all  reflecting  beings,  is,  that  in  no  deposite, 
whether  of  gravel,  of  sand,  or  of  clay,  whether  in  caves  or  in 
streams,  have  any  human  remains  ever  been  found,  that  were 
apparently  connected,  in  the  most  remote  manner,  with  any 
of  the  geological  periods  which  have  been  reviewed.  These 
have  disclosed  to  us  surprising  instances  of  progressive  ad- 
vance in  organic  structure,  adjusted  to  the  gradual  changes 
produced  in  the  level  of  the  ocean  and  the  consequent  in- 
crease of  dry  land.  But  what  crowns  the  consideration  of 
this  lofty  and  attractive  subject  is,  that,  reverting  from  these 
imbedded  records  of  creative  power  to  ourselves,  the  full  evi- 
dence seems  to  be  before  us  and  around  us,  of  a  providential 
preparation  for  the  reception  of  our  own  race,  and  of  our 
being  placed  here  at  an  appointed  time  ;  not  like  the  animals, 
with  a  capacity  for  self-preservation  only,  but  of  rising  to  that 
sense  of  the  responsibility  we  exist  under  to  the  universal 
Creator,  which  may  guide  us  to  another  existence  when  our 
bodies  are  consigned  to  the  common  receptacle  of  organic 
nature. 


FeatherstonhaugVs  Geological  Report.  95 

RECONNOISSANCE  FROM  WASHINGTON  TO  THE 
COTEAU  DE  PRAIRIE. 

Trusting  that  the  explanation  of  geological  principles  which 
I  have  given  in  the  preceding  pages  will  enable  uninitiated 
readers  to  comprehend  more  easily  the  unavoidable  techni- 
calities of  geological  descriptions,  I  proceed  now  to  a  relation 
of  my  reconnoissance,  during  the  past  season,  from  the  seat  of 
Government  to  the  Coteau  de  Prairie,  a  ridge  of  high  prairie 
land  lying  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Minnay  Sotor  Wata- 
pah  (as  it  is  called  in  the  Nacotah  or  Sioux  language)  or  the 
St.  Peter's  river.  Desirous  of  making  the  opportunities  for 
observation  which  would  occur  on  rny  route  to  Green  Bay  as 
interesting  and  useful  to  the  country  as  circumstances  would 
permit  me  to  do,  I  determined  to  follow  the  valley  of  the  Poto- 
mac into  the  great  Western  bituminous  coal  field.  To  this  I 
was  induced  by  various  considerations.  This  route  would 
lead  me  along  the  line  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal,  a 
work  which  deserves  to  be  considered  of  great  magnitude,  as 
well  in  relation  to  the  extraordinary  difficulties  which  have 
opposed  themselves  to  its  construction,  the  amount  of  capital 
involved  in  it,  in  which  the  Government  is  so  deeply  interested, 
and  the  real  state  of  the  resources  of  the  country  through 
which  it  passes,  upon  which  a  dependance  is  placed  for  the 
eventual  indemnification  of  its  cost.  The  inspection  of  this 
valley  could  not  but  be  favorable  to  a  correct  apprehension  of 
the  geological  structure  of  the  country  from  the  falls  of  the 
Potomac  towards  its  sources  :  the  natural  sections  on  the  river 
were  numerous,  and  the  works  on  the  canal  had  laid  open 
many  others,  so  lhat  any  one  who  had  before  traversed  this 
region  by  land,  with  sufficient  leisure  to  note  the  most  inter- 
esting features  of  the  mineral  formations,  could  not  but  receive 
an  instructive  lesson  on  a  line  where  the  formations  are  so 
repeatedly  laid  open  as  they  are  on  the  banks  of  this  rirer. 


96  Feather stonhaugh^s  Geological  Report, 

Washington  and  Georgetown  are  immediately  underlaid  by 
the  gneiss,  and  in  the  environs  of  this  last  place,  especially 
along  the  line  of  Rock  creek  and  on  the  canal,  evidences  are 
already  perceived  in  the  alternate  southeast  and  northwest  dip 
of  the  rocks,  of  that  extensive  anticlinal  movement  by  which 
all  the  rocks  along  the  entire  line  of  the  Potomac  have  been 
affected,  as  high  up  as  the  great  bituminous  coal  field.  In  the 
various  localities  here,  where  the  rocks  are  exposed,  the  true 
dip  of  the  rocks  is  so  contradicted  by  the  cleavage,  that  great 
and  patient  attention  is  required  to  distinguish  between  that 
and  the  stratification ;  but  there  are  some  instances  on  the  canal, 
on  leaving  Georgetown,  where  the  southeast  dip  of  the  gneiss 
is  sufficiently  clear;  after  some  distance  the  stratabecome  fissile, 
with  large  veins  of  quartz,  are  elevated  into  an  almost  vertical 
position,  and  then  dip  to  the  northwest,  at  a  very  high  angle, 
as  far  as  the  great  falls.  On  approaching  the  falls,  the  bed  of 
the  river  presents  a  singular  spectacle  :  sharp,  isolated  masses 
of  dark,  glossy,  micaceous  slate,  turned  upon  their  edges,  lie 
bare  for  a  great  distance,  and  occupy  a  large  area,  resembling 
the  breakers  of  a  boisterous  sea  suddenly  petrified.  But  the 
river  has  long  ago  abandoned  this  part  of  its  bed,  whilst  the 
proof  of  the  rocks  having  been  reduced  to  their  present  state 
by  its  former  action,  is  abundant  in  the  immense  quantity  of 
pot-holes  in  the  rocks,  some  of  them  two  or  three  feet  in 
diameter,  occasioned  by  the  whirling  motion  of  fragments  of 
quartz  or  other  hard  mineral  matter,  in  depressed  parts  of  the 
slate,  which,  when  continued  a  long  time,  make  very  deep 
holes,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  beds  of  all  rivers  where  the  water 
is  low  and  runs  quick.  This  perforating  process  is  one  of  the 
causes  of  the  destruction  of  strata  upon  a  large  scale,  the  holes 
becoming  so  deep  and  numerous  that  at  length  the  floods  have 
strength  enough  to  disintegrate  the  strata,  and  subsequently 
break  up  the  fragments.  In  long  periods  of  time,  water  has 
power  to  wear  its  way  through  the  stoutest  mineral  masses, 
and  I  know  of  no  place  which  affords  a  better  study  of  the 


Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  97 

power  of  water  to  deepen  its  own  beds,  than  the  singular  area 
I  have  mentioned,  as  Well  as  the  falls  themselves,  which  are 
amongst  the  most  picturesque  localities  of  this  country.* 

A  little  further  to  the  westward,  the  slaty  rocks  again  dip 
to  the  eastward,  and  are  occasionally  almost  vertical,  become 
contorted,  and  vary  in  color.  At  Seneca  creek  the  soil  begins 
to  be  reddish,  and  on  the  west  side  a  soft  red  sandstone  conies 
in,  the  beds  of  which  appear  horizontal  from  the  canal,  but 
upon  examination  have  a  regular  anticlinal  structure.  Seams 
of  loose  red  shale  abound  between  the  strata  of  sandstone  ; 
specimens  also  of  anthracite  coal  have  been  obtained  from  this 
neighborhood,  the  nature  of  which  not  having  been  well  ap- 
prehended, has  induced  some  persons  to  suppose  that  this 
locality  might  be  a  continuity  of  the  Chesterfield  coal  field  of 
Virginia.  It  deserves  a  remark  that  the  red  shale  is  a  con- 
stant concomitant  of  the  anthracite  coal  of  the  Alleghany  sys- 
tem. A  few  miles  from  Seneca  creek,  and  24  miles  by  the 
canal  from  Georgetown,  the  strata  dip  again  to  the  westward. 
At  Mr.  Lee's  quarry,  from  whence  valuable  slabs  are  obtained 
for  the  public  works  at  Washington,  fine  casts  of  calamites, 
with  impressions  of  other  plants,  are  found.  Seams  of  red 
shale  separate  the  beds  of  sandstone  occasionally  ;  carbonate 
of  copper  is  frequent,  and  small  veins  of  anthracite  coal.  The 
country  for  the  next  fourteen  miles  presents  fine  slopes  and 
levels,  and  is  occupied  for  agricultural  purposes,  when  an  anti- 
clinal ridge  of  soft  red  shale  comes  in  upon  the  river  at  right 
angles,  dipping  to  the  southeast.  About  five  miles  before 

*  The  nature  of  the  power  of  the  water  in  this  locality  in  ancient  times,  before 
the  bed  of  the  river  was  contracted,  will  be  better  understood  by  stating  that  the 
falls  are  nearly  at  the  head  of  a  natural  inclined  plane,  measuring,  by  the  bends  of 
the  river,  upward*  of  11  miles  to  Georgetown,  and  having  a  fall  of  168  feet  to  the 
tide- water  level.  This  gives  an  average  of  14£  feet  per  mile,  a  force  which,  added 
to  the  immense  period  it  operated  upon  these  rocks,  probably  ever  since  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  Atlantic  primary  chain,  sufficiently  adequate  for  the  phenomena  now 
presented  in  the  bed  of  the  river.  In  the  succeeding  inclined  plane  of  8f  miles, 
the  fall  is  only  32  feet. 
7 


98  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

reaching  the  Monocacy  river,  a  calcareous  breccia,  coming  in 
from  the  northeast,  the  same  of  which  the  columns  in  the 
legislative  halls  of  the  Capitol  are  made,  appears  in  the  ridge, 
alternating  with  the  red  shale  in  broad  seams,  and  in  many 
places  mixed  up  with  it.  It  is  quite  apparent  that  the  breccia 
and  the  shale  have  been  contemporaneously  deposited.  Thirty- 
eight  miles  from  Georgetown  the  ridge  is  about  eighty  feet 
higher  than  the  canal,  and  still  dips  east,  but  the  breccia  soon 
discontinues,  and  the  red  shale  presents  a  more  horizontal 
appearance,  when  the  ridge  ceases,  and  a  small  valley  occurs, 
until,  at  forty  miles,  the  country  rises  into  a  ridge  again  of  red 
shale  and  sandstone,  still  with  a  southeast  dip.  At  forty-six 
miles  and  a  half,  the  ridge  is  distant  about  two  hundred  yards 
from  the  canal,  but  shows  a  good  section  dipping  to  the  west. 
At  forty-seven  miles  the  breccia  comes  in  again  in  broad 
seams,  dipping  to  the  west,  and  unmixed  with  any  other  rock, 
although  the  pebbles  are  in  many  instances  set  in  the  red  shale. 
As  this  breccia  is  one  of  those  geological  phenomena  which 
explains  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner  the  nature  of  the  causes 
which  have  in  ancient  times  modified  this  portion  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  I  shall  revert  to  it  after  pursuing  the  line  of 
the  river  somewhat  further  to  the  northwest. 

At  the  Point  of  Rocks,  forty-eight  miles  from  Georgetown, 
the  Potomac  issues  from  the  Cotoctin  mountains,  which  form 
the  eastern  flank  of  the  Atlantic  primary  chain.  This  chain, 
mineralogically  considered,  is  a  mass  of  primary  slates,  sand- 
stones, and  quartz,  having  a  northnortheast  direction,  and 
running,  W7ith  a  breadth  of  about  fifteen  miles  from  its  western 
to  its  eastern  flank,  through  an  extensive  area  of  limestone. 
Geographically  considered,  it  consists  of  two  ranges  of  hills, 
divided  by  the  Middletown  valley,  the  westernmost  of  which, 
in  this  neighborhood,  is  called  the  Blue  ridge,  and  the  eastern 
one  the  Cotoctin  mountains.  On  arriving  at  these  last,  a  re- 
markable change  takes  place  in  the  aspect  of  the  country ; 
mountainous  masses,  formed  of  many  varieties  of  primary  slates, 


Feather  stonhaugh^s  Geological  Report.  99 

exceedingly  contorted  at  times,  but  with  a  general  dip  to  the 
east,  break  through  the  common  level.  At  Harper's  Ferry, 
twelve  miles  further,  these  slates,  which  rise  to  a  very  lofty 
mural  escarpment  of  eight  or  nine  hundred  feet,  dip  almost  in 
every  direction ;  sometimes  the  seams  appear  to  form  round 
nodules  of  one  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  often  are  vertical,  then 
again  become  concentric.  The  whole  mass  is  in  a  state  of  great 
confusion,  which  is  increased  by  the  cleavage,  here  exceedingly 
deceptive.  One  mile,  however,  further  west,  the  laminae  of 
the  slate  become  thin  and  numerous,  and  show  the  true  dip, 
which  is  easterly.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  edges  of  the  beds 
in  the  Shenandoah  at  low  water.  A  few  miles  beyond  this 
point,  the  character  of  the  country  again  changes,  the  slates 
disappear,  and  we  come  upon  vertical  laminae  of  limestone, 
which,  somewhat  further  on,  dip  to  the  west. 

Reverting  to  the  breccia,  and  with  a  view  to  give  a  more 
satisfactory  explanation  of  it,  I  shall  now.  trace  another  sec- 
tional line,  parallel  to  the  one  which  has  been  described,  but 
reversing  the  direction,  and  descending  the  country  from 
northwest  to  southeast.  By  following  the  edge  of  the  lime- 
stone spoken  of  as  lying  in  vertical  laminae,  the  traveller  comes 
upon  Boonsborough,  in  Maryland,  a  town  which  stands  upon 
the  western  flank  of  the  Blue  ridge,  where  it  joins  the  great 
formation  of  transition  limestone,  as  it  has  hitherto  been  called. 
On  this  line  he  finds  the  Blue  ridge  composed  of  primary 
slates,  chlorites,  and  sandstones,  with  conglomerate  grits,  to 
the  eastern  foot  of  the  ridge,  all  dipping  east.  Entering  the 
Middletown  valley,  he  finds  a  decomposed  red  shale  and  tal- 
cose  slate.  Leaving  Middletown,  which  is  eight  miles  from 
Boonsborough,  he  crosses  the  Cotoctin  mountains,  composed 
of  chlorite  rocks  and  slates,  with  green  epidote  and  whitish 
slaty  sandstones,  and  advances  towards  Fredericktown,  also 
distant. eight  miles.  When  he  has  left  the  mountains  behind 
him,  and  has  advanced  to  within  two  and  a  half  miles  of  the 
city,  he  finds  the  ground  covered,  for  a  breadth  of  several  hun- 
7* 


100  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report, 

dred  yards,  with  immense  dislocated  masses  of  the  calcareous 
breccia,  some  of  them  weighing  fifty  tons,  and  the  fragments 
and  pebbles  of  which  it  is  composed  cemented  together  with 
a  red  argillaceous  earth.  One  mile  from  Frederick  he  finds 
the  limestone  as  regularly  in  place  as  it  is  west  of  the  Blue 
ridge,  its'  edges  crossing  the  road  in  a  direction  of  northnorth- 
east  to  southsouthwest,  sometimes  dipping  easterly,  and  fre- 
quently vertical.  The  limestone  continues  uninterruptedly 
to  the  Monocacy  river,  on  the  eastern  side  of  which  laminated 
slates  and  shales  commence.  We  have  thus  all  the  proofs 
that  the  Atlantic  primary  chain  has  come  up  from  below 
through  the  limestone,  triturating  and  breaking  it  up  into  frag- 
ments of  every  size,  which  were  subsequently  transported  to 
the  east  side  of  the  chain  by  a  current  from  the  west,  and  de- 
posited there,  intermixed  with  the  decomposed  red  shale,  for 
no  conglomerate  has  yet  been  found  on  the  western  side. 
This  great  elevatory  movement  seems  to  have  been  followed 
by  another,  which  has  given  the  anticlinal  arrangement  to  all 
the  rocks  of  the  country ;  for,  after  the  first  deposition  of  the 
breccia,  we  find  it  dislocated  and  broken  up  into  the  masses 
before  spoken  of.  This  must  have  taken  place  posterior  to  its 
semi-induration,  for,  where  it  lies  undisturbed,  the  fragments 
of  which  it  is  composed  are,  in  numerous  localities,  rent  in 
every  direction,  their  corresponding  parts  often  shifted,  and 
the  fissures  filled  up  with  the  carbonate  of  lime.  This  curious 
state  of  the  breccia  is  well  exhibited  in  the  columns  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  at  the  Capitol.  I  have 
followed  this  breccia  for  great  distances  along  the  eastern  flank 
of  this  chain,  and  have  found  it  always  similarly  situated  ;  only 
in  some  localities,  as  in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia,  to  the 
northwest  of  the  town  of  Buekland,  the  breccia  is  not  com- 
posed of  limestone,  but  of  slates,  sandstones,  and  quartz, 
because  the  limestone  has  never  extended  to  that  parallel. 
We  may  safely  infer,  from  all  these  circumstances,  that  the  At- 
lantic primary  chain  was  elevated  posterior  to  the  deposition 


Feather  stonhaugVs  Geological  Report.  101 

of  the  limestone,  which  may  be  considered  the   equivalent  of 
the  lowest  beds  of  Mr.  Murchison's  Silurian  rocks. 

These  non-fossiliferous  beds  extend  now  a  long  way  up  the 
river,  which  is  very  tortuous,  embracing  many  beds  of  hydrau- 
lic lime,  which,  as  well  as  the  common  limestone,  when  pure, 
has  added  much  to  the  value  of  real  estate  here  since  the  con- 
struction of  the  canal.     The  compact  dark  blue  kind  makes 
an  excellent  mineral   manure,  but  cracks  when  used  as  plas- 
tering for  rooms,  an  objection  the  whiter  kinds  are  not  so 
obnoxious  to,  they  being  less  ferruginous.     The  whole  dis- 
tance up  the   river,  the  beds  are  anticlinally  arranged,  often 
forming  complete  arches,  and  occasionally  the  seams,  not  more 
than  eight  inches  wides,  are  disposed  into  concentric  forms  of 
forty  feet  diameter.     At  Shepherdstown  a  band  of  quartzose 
red  sandstone,  about  three  feet  broad,  sometimes  crossed  with 
small  seams  of  carbonate  of  lime,  runs  through  the  strata  of 
limestone  due  north  and  south.     I  obtained  a  singular  speci- 
men from  it,  with  septae  standing  on  its  face  in  relief,  like  chain 
coral.     Higher  up  lofty  bluffs  of  limestone  approach  the  river 
on  boih  sides  ;  some  of  them  on  the  left  bank  are  cavernous, 
with  pendent  stalactites  inside.     Near  Williamsport  the  beds 
frequently  dipped  both  ways  in  a  short  distance ;  indeed,  in 
some  localities  they  have  a  wavy  structure,  forming  a  set  of 
anticlinal  and  synclinal  lines,  as  in  diagram  10,  where,  at  a,  a 
ravine,  the  continuity  is  interrupted  by  the  removal  of  mine- 
ral matter.     Diagram  No.  11  represents  another  locality  near 
Williamsport,  where,  at  a,  a  part  of  the  beds  seems  to  have  slid 
off,  and  to  have  left  a  ravine,  where  trees  are  now  growing. 
The  main  beds  of  limestone  here  are  about  three  feet  wide. 
In  approaching  the  Alleghany  ridges  the  evidences  are  abun- 
dant of  a  great  disturbance  in  the  beds.     I  copied  the  appear- 
ances exhibited  by  them  in  diagram  12,  within  the  space  of 
three  miles.     At  Williamsport  a  slaty  shale   comes  in   at  the 
river,  through  which  a  road  has  been  cut  to  the  canal  bridge, 
which  exhibits  the  laminae  standing  in  every  possible  direc- 


102  Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

tion.  The  canal  not  being  navigable  bejond  this  town,  which 
is  one  hundred  miles  from  Georgetown,  I  abandoned  those  in- 
structive banks  of  the  river,  and  continued  over  the  limestone, 
occasionally  alternating  with  shale,  by  the  upper  route,  to 
Clear  Spring,  about  seven  miles.  A  little  beyond  this  place 
the  formations  change,  and  the  heavy  limestone  water  is  ex- 
changed for  the  pure  springs  flowing  from  the  shales  and 
sandstones  of  the  north  mountain,  the  first  in  advance  of  the 
Alleghany  system  of  ridges  west  of  the  Atlantic  primary.  Fur- 
ther on,  about  nine  miles,  a  fine  fossiliferous  bed  of  limestone 
comes  in  on  the  Licking  creek,  containing  producta,  spirifers, 
cardia,  and  some  goniatites.  There  is,  however,  a  lower 
route,  by  the  way  of  what  is  called  Big  Spring,  betwixt  the 
North  mountain  and  the  river,  where  the  limestone,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  continuous  beds  of  shale,  is  continous  ;  and 
as  the  North  mountain,  on  the  Virginia  side,  across  the  Poto- 
mac, continues  its  course  to  the  S.  S.  W.,  it  is  evident  that 
the  bed  of  the  river  has  been  excavated  subsequent  to  the 
deposite  of  the  North  mountain,  and  that  the  shales  and  sand- 
stones have  been  removed  from  the  limestone  occupying  the 
space  between  the  now  separated  portions  of  the  mountain. 
I  have  subsequently  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  the 
country  on  the  Virginia  side,  and  found  every  thing  in  cor- 
respondence there.  The  limestone  extends  from  Shepherds- 
town  to  the  east  flank  of  the  North  mountain,  near  Hedges- 
ville,  and  the  same  beds  of  shale  which  are  observed  on  the 
opposite  side,  occur  on  this  side,  betwixt  this  last-mentioned 
place  and  Martinsburg.  Pursuing  the  road  from  Licking 
creek  to  Hancock,  there  are  numerous  sections  of  shales  and 
sandstones,  dipping  alternately  east  and  west,  the  strata  fre- 
quently exhibiting  imperfect  arches.  On  the  route  a  very 
distinct  view  is  had  of  a  narrow  valley,  on  the  Virginia  side, 
lying  between  two  subordinate  ridges,  called  the  Third  hill 
and  Sleepy-creek  mountain.  Here  the  first  veins  are  found 
of  anthracite  coal  of  a  good  quality  ;  and  although  they  are 


Featherstonhaugti 's  Geological  Report.  103 

known  to  extend  many  miles  to  the  S.  S.  W.,  no  examination 
of  them  has  yet  been  made  minute  enough  to  ascertain  their 
capacity.  This  I  learned  from  some  of  the  proprietors  13 
about  to  be  done. 

From  Hancock  to  Cumberland,  the  proposed  termination  of 
the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal,  about  forty  miles,  a  great 
number  of  subordinate  ridges  are  crossed,  consisting  of  red 
shales,  sandstones,  ferruginous  ores,  grits,  and  occasional 
bands  of  encrinital  limestone.  Some  of  these  are  the  bifur- 
cations of  one  principal  ridge,  as  Town  hill  is  of  Sidling  hill, 
which  extends  up  to  the  Juniatta,  in  Pennsylvania  ;  all,  how- 
ever, appear  to  have  one  general  magnetic  direction,  running 
between  north  and  northeast,*  At  Flint  Stone,  twelve  miles 
from  Cumberland,  are  beds  of  limestone,  containing  fossils 
analogous  to  those  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  of  the  West- 
ern country,  bellerophon,  lingula,  avicula,  turbo,  a. great  va- 
riety of  favosites,  madrepores,  and  other  zoophytes,  and  beds 
of  encrinites,  converted  into  calcareous  spar,  which  would 
make  very  beautiful  marbles.  These  beds  appear  to  me  to 
be  the  equivalents  of  the  Ludlow  rocks.  The  country  again 
rises  with  shales  and  sandstones,  but  on  approaching  Cumber- 
land, beds  of  limestone  are  again  met  with,  but  very  slaty, 
and  alternating  with  shale  and  sandstone  ;  sometimes  they 
are  horizontal,  sometimes  contorted,  and  are  thrown  even  into 
vertical  inclinations.  The  fossils  here  again  come  near  to 
those  of  the  carboniferous  limestone.  To  the  west  of  this 
place  rises  a  lofty  ridge,  called  Wills's  mountain,  about  900  feet 
in  height,  with  an  immense  gap,  through  which  Wills's  creek 

*  Charles  B.  Fisk,  Esq.,  the  intelligent  chief  engineer  of  the  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  canal,  was  obliging  enough  to  have  parallel  lines  run  for  me,  to 
cover  points  of  white  granular  sandstone,  and  red  sandstone,  which  had  been 
identified  as  belonging  to  the  anticlinal  strata,  following  the  magnetic  direction 
above  alluded  to.  These  lines,  which  extended  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Hancock  across  the  Cacapon  river  to  a  point  west  of  the  Cacapon  and  south  of 
the  Potomac,  gave  a  course  of  S.  34  degrees  W. 


104  Featherslonhaugh'ls  Geological  Report. 

finds  its  way  to  the  Potomac.     East,  however,  of  this  moun- 
tain is  a  small  ridge,  which  stops  short  of  Cumberland  to  the 
northeast,   being   divided  from    its  southern    portion,    which 
continues  its  southern  course  across  the  Potomac  in  Virginia, 
by  a  basin  about  a  mile  and  a  half  wide,  in  which  Cumberland 
is  situated,  and  through  which  the  Potomac  flows.    This  ridge 
is  composed  of  shale  and  limestone,  with  producta,  spirifers, 
and  cardia.     It  is  evident  that  the   ancient  floods  which  have 
retired  from  this  part  of  the  country  at  the  period  of  its  be- 
coming dry  land,  have  carried  away  the  subjacent  shale,  and 
that  the  superincumbent  limestone  has  fallen  in  for  want -of 
support.     The  gorge  of  Wills's  mountain  is  a  very  remarka- 
ble  locality ;  it  extends  about  3,000  paces3  and  is  in  some 
places  500  paces  wide,  presenting  a  very  curious  and  quite  a 
magnificent  section   of  the   mountain.     This  consists  of  red 
shale,  subjacent  to  grayish  sandstones  and  grits.     On  the  north 
side  the  summit  is  about  850  feet  from  the  creek,  showing  a 
bold    mural   escarpment,   with   an    immense    talus   of  fallen 
masses,  extending  two-thirds  of  the  way  up  the  cliff. ,    On  the 
south  side,  at  the  eastern  end,  the  base  rises  by  a  slight  incli- 
nation into  a  regular  curvature  of  the  beds,  the  lowest  being 
a  red  shale,  and   the   upper  beds  consisting  of  grayish  sand- 
stones and   grits.     The   curvature  presents   a  segment  of  an 
arch,  the    base    of  which   would   be   about   9,000  feet.     On 
reaching  the   western   end  of  the   gap,  I  observed  that  the 
flexure  of  the  beds  had  as  it  were  collapsed,  and  that  a  great 
many  of  them,  to  the  amount  of  about  200  feet  in  thickness, 
were  hanging  vertically  upon  the  flattened  side  of  the  arch,  as 
in  diagram  13.     Amongst  the  rubbish  I  had  seen  some  speci- 
mens of  fucoides  Alleghaniensis,  and  as  soon  as  I  fully  com- 
prehended the  collapsed  state  of  these  rocks,  it  oceured  to  me 
that  I  might  possibly  find   the  beds  to  which   they  belonged, 
and  climbing  the  cliff  and  looking  diligently  about,  I  had  the 
satisfaction   of  -finding  them,  with   several   other  varieties  of 
fucus  in  place  on   the  outermost  of  the  vertical  beds.     The 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  105 

fuci  all  belonging  to  the  seaweed  tribe  of  plants,*  these  must 
have  grown  upon  the  flat  bed  of  the  sea.  It  is  evident,  there- 
fore, that  all  the  beds  had  been  bent  up  by  some  action  from 
below,  and  that,  from  some  inequality  in  the  action,  or  from 
some  external  cause,  the  bed  on  which  they  lay,  together  with 
its  associate  strata,  had  collapsed  towards  the  centre,  in  such 
a  manner  that  they  would  appear  to  have  been  thrown  up 
into  a  vertical  position,  if  the  incurvated  part  had  been  con- 
cealed. 

A  few  miles  from  this  remarkable  gap,  on  the  road  towards 
Frostburg,  a  change  in  the  formations  takes  place  ;  the  sand- 
stone becomes  micaceous,  and  the  shales  alternate  with  bands 
of  limestone.  The  country  now  rises  over  Dan's  mountain, 
the  eastern  limit  here  of  the  Western  bituminous  coal  field,  to 
Frostburg,  ten  miles  from  Cumberland,  and  it  is  in  the  vicinity 
of  this  place,  which  is  about  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  the  level  of  tide-water,  that  those  fine  veins  of  bitu- 
minous coal  have  been  opened  which  are  hereafter,  when  the 
canal  is  finished,  to  come  in  competition  with  the  other  bitu- 
minous coals  on  the  Atlantic  border.  One  of  the  veins  here, 
of  which  there  appear  to  be  four  regularly  developed,  giving 
twenty  feet  of  coal,  is  ten  feet  thick,  and  would  be  all  of  a 
very  excellent  quality,  if  it  were  not  for  a  deposite  of  shale, 
from  six  to  twelve  inches  thick,  in  the  centre  of  the  vein.  A 
very  great  advantage  which  this  coal,  in  common  with  all  the 
bituminous  coal  mines  of  the  West  possesses,  is,  that  in 
consequence  of  the  deficiency  of  the  several  formations  of  the 
geological  column,  which  has  been  before  mentioned,  and  the 
elevation  of  the  region  above  the  river  levels,  the  coal  is 
excavated  with  comparatively  little  cost,  and,  dipping  gently 
to  the  west,  the  drainage  is  easily  effected.  The  hydrates  of 
iron,  also,  of  this  neighborhood,  are  very  promising,  but  the 

*  Some  of  the  recent  species  of  fuci  are   many  hundred  feet  in  length,  and 
have  a  small  bladder  at  the  end  of  their  leaves,  by  the  aid  of  which  they  float. 


106  Feather  stonhaugW  s  Geological  Report. 

continuity  of  deposites  of  this  character  is  very  variable,  and 
no  calculation  can  be  made  either  of  their  extent  or  thickness, 
unless  the  beds  have  been  very  generally  worked  and  for  a 
long  time.  This  is  not  the  case  with  the  coal,  which  takes  its 
origin  from  a  different  cause,  and  which  develops  itself  in 
many  neighboring  localities,  with  the  greatest  assurance  of  its 
being  continuous.  Frostburg  is  the  summit  level  of  the  country, 
and  the  beds  lie  generally  in  the  same  horizontal  manner  in 
which  they  were  deposited  ;  from  which  the  inference  may  be 
safely  drawn  that  they  were  deposited  posterior  to  the  move- 
ment which  has  given  an  anticlinal  arrangement  to  all  the 
beds  lying  between  them  and  Georgetown. 

From  Frostburg  I  descended  the  valley  of  George's  creek 
eighteen  miles,  to  the  village  of  Westernport,  on  the  northern 
branch  of  the  Potomac.  The  valley  is  hemmed  in  by  lofty 
hills,  containing  various  veins  of  coal.  Three  miles  beyond 
Westernport  and  one  beyond  the  mouth  of  Savage  river,  the 
Potomac  has  worn  its  way  through  a  ridge,  apparently  nine 
hundred  feet  high  at  least,  making  a  gap  of  a  mile  wide.  On 
the  south  side  is  a  very  curious  vertical  section,  (Diagram 
No.  14,* )  exhibiting  the  rare  spectacle  of  six  workable  veins  of 
coal,  containing  near  forty  feet  of  coal  and  two  bands  of  iron 
ore.  The  uppermost  of  these  veins  is  about  sixteen  feet  thick, 
and  is  about  eight  hundred  feet  from  the  level  of  the  river. 
The  six-feet  vein  of  this  locality  has  a  band  about  one  foot 
thick  of  argillaceous  shale  in  the  centre,  like  the  vein  at  Frost- 
burg, and  the  three-feet  vein  is  somewhat  pyritiferous.  These 
circumstances  may  assist  future  observers  in  their  inquiries 
whether  these  veins  are  continuous  and  identical.  The  coal 
is  nearly  at  the  same  height  at  both  localities,  Frostburg  being 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  above  the 
level  of  Cumberland,  and  the  summit  of  the  section  near 
Savage  river  having  about  the  same  elevation,  the  truncated 

*  In  this  diagram,  the  thickness  and  succession  of  the  coal  veins  are  put  down 
without  reference  to  the  thickness  of  the  beds  of  sandstone  which  separate  them. 


Feather  stonhaugW  3  Geological  Report.  107 

mountain  being  perhaps  nine  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and 
the  fall  to  Cumberland  from  thence  being  about  three  hundred 
and  thirty  feet.     The  veins  at  both  places  dip  to  the  west.     I 
regretted  at  the  time  not  having  leisure  to  examine  this  sub- 
ject more  minutely  with  reference  to  the  general  continuity  of 
the  veins.     When  the  impediments*  to  the  navigation  shall  at 
some  future  period  be  overcome,  there  will  be  no  part  of  the 
world  perhaps  where  coal  can  be  mined  and  shipped  with 
greater  facility  than  at  the  Savage  mountain.     The  galleries 
can  be  constructed  in  the  broad  face  of  day,  and  the  coal  let 
down  by  drops  to  the  boats  below.     I  remember  seeing  this 
admirable  contrivance   at   Sunderland,  in  England :  the  coal 
being  brought  from  the  mines  to  the  river  at  an  elevation  of 
several  hundred  feet,  one  car  at  a  time,  laden  with  coal,  was 
carried    out  by  machinery,  and  suspended  over  that  part  of 
the  river  where  the  vessel  lay  ;  it  was  then  let  down,  with 
the  man  accompanying  it,  within  a  moderate  distance  from  the 
open  hatches ;  the  man  then  touching  a  spring,  the   bottom 
of  the  car  was  let  go  and  the  coal  dropped  into  the  hold  ;  the 
car  was  theft  hoisted  up  again,  and  another  let  down. 

Returning  to  Cumberland  from  Westernport,  a  distance  of 
twenty-eight  miles,  by  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  as  far  as  it 
was  practicable,  I  had  a  fine  opportunity  of  observing  the  river 
sections  in  a  part  of  the  country  remarkably  wild  and  pictu- 
resque, where  the  river  occasionally  wound  its  way  through 
very  narrow  mountainous  gorges.  Not  far  from  Westernport, 
on  the  left  bank)  there  is  another  coal  vein,  of  about  twelve 
feet,  which  I  was  told  reappeared  on  the  southern  or  Virginia 
side,  at  nearly  the  same  level,  about  three  miles  distant.  The 
termination  of  the  coal  field  was  soon  marked  by  the  reappear- 
ance of  anticlinal  and  contorted  limstone  beds  alternating 
with  shale.  Sometimes  the  hills  come  down  to  the  left  bank 
so  abruptly  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  cross  to  the  Virginia 
shore.  At  one  place  the  mountain  descends  in  an  inclination 
of  seventy  degrees  to  the  river,  and  a  bridle-path  has  been 

*  In  thirty-one  miles  the  full  is  three  hundred  and  twcnly-four  feet. 


108  Feather  stonhaugWs   Geological  Report. 

raade,  which  crosses  this  slope  at  an  elevation  of  five  hundred 
feet,  over  which  a  careless  traveller  might  be  easily  precipi- 
tated. This  was  a  section  of  Dan's  mountain,  which  I  had 
before  crossed  on  my  way  to  Frostburg.  On  descending  the 
east  side  of  this  mountain,  I  came  in  view  of  a  most  striking 
section  of  the  limstone  beds  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Poto- 
mac, where  the  flexure  of  the  rocks  was  occasionally  con- 
tinued in  an  anticlinal  and  synclinal  line,  upon  a  large  scale, 
and  the  surface  had  been  so  curiously  removed  in  various 
parts,  that  sometimes  a  perfect  arch  was  left,  and  at  other 
times  an  inverted  one.  Diagram  No.  15  represents  one  of 
these  sections. 

From  Cumberland  I  now  went  in  a  northerly  direction  near 
forty  miles  to  Bedford,  along  a  valley  between  Wills's  moun- 
tain on  the  west,  and  Evitt's  mountain,  a  somewhat  smaller 
ridge,  on  the  east.  The  red  shale  which  underlies  Wills's 
mountain  at  Cumberland,  constantly  appears  subordinate  to 
the  sandstone  on  this  route.  The  valley  abounds  with  knolls 
of  limestone,  containing  fossils  of  the  carboniferous  limestone, 
resembling  the  knolls  in  Alleghany  county,  Virginia,  lower 
down  on  this  range,  about  two  hundred  miles  south,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Sweet  springs.  The  constancy  of  the  phenomena 
connected  with  the  anticlinal  arrangement  of  the  whole  series 
of  Alleghany  ridges,  seems  to  suggest  the  true  explanation  of 
their  origin.  Prior  to  this  undulating  elevatory  movement, 
the  level  of  these  beds  seems  not  only  to  have  been  higher, 
but  to  have  beeji  continuous  and  without  valleys.  Whilst 
some  parts  of  the  strata  were  forced  up  into  the  anticlinal 
form,  in  a  constant  magnetic  direction,  the  intervening  distance 
betwixt  each  axis  or  ridge  would  probably  be  thrown  into  a 
ruinous  state,  and  as  the  dry  land  rose  and  the  waters  retired, 
the  ruins  would  at  length  be  borne  away,  and  the  valleys  re- 
main. All  these  ridges,  however,  are  not  in  a  perfectly  anti- 
clinal state  at  present.  At  Prospect  rock,  at  the  top  of  the 
Cacapon  mountain,  in  Morgan  county,  Virginia,  the  strata  have 


Feather 'slonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  109 

an  easterly  dip,  whilst  on  the  west  side  the  beds  are  truncated, 
and  the  greater  portion  of  the  mountain  on  this  side  seems  to 
have  been  carried  away.  The  origin  i  have  here  attributed 
to  these  ridges  seems  the  more  probable,  when  it  is  considered 
that  they  only  commence  where  the  shales  come  in,  which 
being  easily  removed,  soon  cause  the  ruin  of  the  superincum- 
bent strata. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Bedford,  which  is  remarkable  for  its  effi- 
cacious mineral  waters,  the  limestone  and  shale  alternate. 
The  limestone,  in  strong  strata,  contains  impressions  of  pro- 
ducta,  sphifers,  and  cardia,.and  in  a  crumbling  shale  superin- 
cumbent, I  found  great  quantities  both  of  bellerophon  and 
goniatites. 

From  this  place  I  pursued  a  northwesterly  course  again, 
towards  the  bituminous  coal  field,  passing  over  the  usual  beds 
of  limestone,  shale,  and  sandstone.  Fifteen  miles  from  Bed- 
ford I  again  came  upon  the  great  horizontal  deposites  of  the 
country,  from  whence  the  waters  flow  to  the  Ohio,  called  here 
the  Backbone  mountain,  in  many  places  the  great  Alleghany 
mountain,  but  which,  from  its  being  the  constant  limit,  during 
its  long  course,  of  the  great  Western  bituminous  coal  field,, 
should  be  known  by  a  general  characteristic  name.  Here,  on 
the  Shellburg  road,  the  mountain  is  twelve  miles  from  base 
to  base,  and  has  a  table  land  at  the  summit  of  eight  miles 
broad.  Advancing  to  the  summit,  a  regular  millstone  grit 
occurs,  with  beds  of  conglomerate,  underlain  by  shale;  and 
at  the  top,  about  half  a  mile  to  the  right  of  the  road,  there 
is  a  coal  vein,  worked  by  a  person  named  Stotler,  about  seven 
feet  wide,  with  two  feet  of  bituminous  shale  in  the  centre. 
This  vein  is  perfectly  horizontal,  and  conforms  to  the  subjacent 
strata. 

From  hence  to  Pittsburg,  about  eighty  miles,  the  coal  con- 
stantly crops  out  in  all  the  ravines  and  in  descending  most  of 
the  hills.  Opposite  to  this  prosperous  town,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Monongahela  with  the  Ohio,  there  is  a  fine  section, 


110  Feather  stonhaugfts  Geological  Report. 

about  400  feet  high,  containing  a  six-feet  vein,  which  has  been 
long  worked  for  the  use  of  the  city.  It  would  be  superfluous 
in  me  to  allude  to  other  localities,  or  to  those  which  are  so 
exceedingly  interesting  up  the  valley  of  the  Monongahela, 
it  having  been  recently  done  with  much  detail  and  accuracy.* 
The  great  extent  also  of  this  Western  coal  region  is  sufficiently 
known  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  its  vast  resources.! 
Mr.  R.C.  Taylor  estimates  the  area  covered  by  certain  coun- 
ties in  Pennsylvania  which  lie  within  it,  to  cover  twenty-one 
thousand  square  miles,  exclusive  of  other  counties  which  lie 
partially  out  of  it.  If  to  this  are  added  the  extensive  deposites 
in  Ohio,  Virginia,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Indiana, 
and  Missouri,  we  see  sufficient  reasons  for  indulging  the  most 
sanguine  anticipations  of  the  future  wealth  to  be  accumulated 
in  this  part  of  the  country.  But  it  is  not  the  coal  alone — its 
concomitants,  iron  and  salt,  will  aid  in  accelerating  its  pros- 
perity. Although  the  general  geological  arrangement  of  the 
coal  measures  in  the  United  States  and  in  England  is  very 
similar,  as  to  the  mineral  structure  of  the  beds,  the  or- 
ganic incidents,  and  the  associate  deposites  of  iron,  yet  the 
analogy  does  not  hold  as  respects  the  salt.  I  shall  make  a  few 
remarks  on  this  subject  by-and-by,  which  will  be  compara- 
tively useful  to  observers  here.  The  beds  of  the  coal  meas- 
ures in  the  northern  counties  of  England,  are  irregular  alter- 
nations of  sandstones,  composed  of  fragments  of  silex,  mica, 
and  felspar  with  a  mineral  cement,  schistose  clayey  beds,  and 
veins  of  bituminous  coal.  The  schistose  beds  contain  iron- 
stone, in  nodules  and  layers,  which  appear  to  be  formed  by 
molecular  attraction  in  the  ancient  muds,  now  become  shale. 

*  Dr.  S.  P.  Hildreth  "  on  the  bituminous  coal  deposites  of  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio,"  &c.— See  Silliman's  Journal,  October,  1835. 

t  Besides  the  numerous  quantity  of  veins  lying  high  and  dry  above  the  streams, 
there  are  the  yet  unexplored  ones  lying  beneath  them.  In  boring  for  salt  water 
in  many  parts  of  this  region,  many  coal  veins  have  been  passed  through,  some  of 
them  six  and  eight  feet  thick.  Those  in  the  Newcastle  district,  England,  known 
as  the  high  and  low  main  seams,  which  are  worked  at  great  depths,  are  known  to 
extend  over  150  miles  square,  and  have  been  mined  for  several  years. 


Featherstonhavgh's  Geological  Report.  Ill 

The  sandstones  are  very  fissile,  owing  to  the  disposition  of 
the  mica ;  they  consist  of  rounded  granular  quartz,  from 
masses  of  which  their  constituent  parts  may  have  been  detached 
with  the  mica.  In  this  country  there  are  numerous  thick  beds 
of  sandstone  formed  with  rounded  grains  of  quartz  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  formation  as  well  as 
the  millstone  grit,  which  have  no  mica.'  The  sandstones  with 
mtca^  here  spoken  of,  are  much  less  coherent  than  the  mica- 
ceous sandstones  in  connexion  with  the  primary  rocks,  of 
which  there  are  some  fine  examples  up  Rock  creek,  in  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

These  fissile  sandstones  frequently  contain  stems  and  frag- 
ments of  terrestrial  plants,  and  are  often  separated  by  beds  of 
limestone  containing  marine  shells.  The  abrupt  changes  of 
these  mineral  strata,  and  their  organic  contents,  often  without 
admixture,  show  that  they  have  been  deposited  not  at  distinct 
periods  alone,  but  under  circumstances  widely  different.  The 
strata  appear  at  one  time  to  have  been  covered  with  calca- 
reous salt  waters,  which  subsequently  became  dry  land,  and 
afterwards  received  argillaceous  deposites  of  mechanical  origin, 
brought  by  fresh  water,  in  the  manner  alluded  to  when  the 
wealden  group  was  treated  of.  In  some  of  these  shales,  the 
remains  of  fossil  unios  are  found  associated  with  the  plants, 
showing  that  the  same  state  of  things  existed  in  the  muds  of 
the  estuaries  and  rivers  of  ancient  geological  periods,  which 
we  are  constantly  observing  on  this  continent  under  the  pres- 
ent order  of  nature.  These  unios  are  found  in  great  abun- 
dance in  the  Jarrow  colliery,  in  the  Newcastle  district,  many 
of  them  lying  with  the  valves  gaping  open,  and  proving  con- 
clusively that  the  bed  where  they  are  now  found  was  once 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  though  now  many  hundred  feet  below 
it.*  This  bed  is  only  one  of  a  number  similarly  situated,  and 

*  Similar  observations  have  been  made  here.  Dr.  Hildreth,  p.  G9,  70,  observes 
that  fossil  unios,  melania,  and  lymnea,  all  fresh-water  genera,  are  found  "in  a 
bed  of  dark  carbonaceous  clay,"  at  a  level  many  feet  below  the  coal. 


112  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

if  it  constituted  the  surface  a  sufficient  period  of  time,  as  we 
see  it  did,  to  admit  of  successive  generations  of  plants  and 
fresh-water  mollusca  growing  on  it,  what  duration  of  lime 
must  be  allowed  for  the  aggregate  formation  of  the  whole 
coal  measures,  when  each  bed  in  its  turn  constituted  the  sur- 
face for  an  undefined  period  ?  And  then  what  are  we  to  think 
of  the  period  necessary  for  the  deposition  of  all  the  stratified 
portion  of  the  earth,  when  the  coal  measures  stand  in  so  small 
a  relation  to  the  whole  ? 

This  portion  of  the  carboniferous  group  presents,  also,  the 
singular  spectacle  of  vegetable  fossils  prevailing  almost  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  others,  a  circumstance  which  gives  weight  to 
the  vegetable  origin  of  bituminous  coal.  Besides  the  pro- 
fusion of  vegetable  fossil  impressions  found  on  the  bituminous 
shales  superincumbent  on  the  coal  veins,  we  find  the  leaves 
and  stems  of  great  varieties  of  plants  dispersed  in  the  slaty 
and  siliceous  beds  alternating  with  the  coal,  as  if  they  had  been 
deposited  at  a  geological  epoch  devoted  almost  exclusively  to 
the  vegetation  of  plants.  Assuming  the  vegetable  origin  of 
coal,  it  appears  most  probable  that  coal  veins  must  have  been 
furnished  by  plants  which  grew  on  the  spot,  as  peats  do  at 
present.  In  cases  where  plants  have  accumulated  by  being 
swept  from  a  distance  into  particular  situations,  as  at  Bovey 
Heathfield,  in  Devonshire,  where  whole  forests  seem  to  have 
swept  off  from  the  Dartmoor  granite,  and  collected  in  a  basin 
lower  down,  we  must  expect  to  find  them,  as  they  are  there, 
mixed  up  with  gravel  and  detritus ;  but  that  does  not  occur  in 
the  coal  veins,  they  are  composed  of  pure  combustible  matter, 
although,  as  has  been  seen,  they  are  sometimes  divided  by 
argillaceous  layers.  If  we  were  to  endeavor  to  account  for 
the  coal  measures  upon  the  hypothesis  of  plants  transported 
from  more  elevated  and  distant  districts,  in  vain  we  look  for 
vestiges  of  such  districts,  lost  in  admiration  at  the  changes 
which  the  surface  has  undergone.  The  degree  of  bitumina- 
tion  belonging  to  the  many  varieties  of  coal,  and  upon  which 


Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  113 

their  excellence  for  particular  purposes  depends,  may  be  caused 
by  the  inherent  qualities  of  the  plants  of  which  they  are  the 
supposed  residuum.  There  is  one  particular  in  which  the 
bituminous  coal  region  of  this  country  differs  widely  from  that 
of  England :  here  the  beds  lie  generally  as  undisturbed  as 
when  they  were  deposited;  there  they  have  been  dislocated 
and  shifted  in  a  surprising  manner.  There  are  instances  of 
faults,  in  the  Newcastle  district,  where  the  strata  have  been 
rent,  and  a  subsidence  of  one  portion  has  taken  place  to  the 
extent  of  140  fathoms,  near  850  feet.  When  this  was  effected, 
of  course  the  corresponding  part  would  have  formed  an 
escarpment  to  that  extent ;  yet  all  this  has  been  removed, 
for  the  surface  of  the  country  is  now  level. 

Not  having,  upon  this  occasion,  passed  through  the  great 
deposites  of  anthracite  coal,  I  shall  not  refer  to  them  any 
further  than  to  observe  that  they  are  totally  distinct,  as  to 
their  geological  position,  from  the  bituminous  coals,  and  of  a 
distinct  quality.  With  some  exceptions,  as  at  Broad-top 
mountain,  in  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  they  are  entirely 
non-bituminous,  and  are  all,  without  exception,  deposited  low 
down,  amongst  what  have  been  called  the  grauwacke  rocks, 
and  in  that  group  which,  when  it  comes  to  be  minutely  ex- 
amined and  compared,  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  prove  the  equiva- 
lent of  Mr.  Murchison's  Silurian  rocks.  There  are  very 
strong  resemblances  amongst  some  of  the  fossil  plants  found 
in  the  shales  of  both  the  bituminous  and  non-bituminous  beds, 
but  I  believe  the  amount  of  the  differences,  when  they  are 
carefully  compared  by  experienced  observers,  which  measures 
are  taking  to  have  done,  will  prove  to  be  great  and  charac- 
teristic. 

Deposites  of  hydrate  of  iron  accompany  the  bituminous  coal 
measures,  as  they  do  in  England,  but  in  this  country  they  vary 
exceedingly  in  their  extent  and  capacity.  The  beds  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Potomac  appear  to  be  thick,  and,  if  they 
are  continuous,  will  be  of  immense  value.  The  deposites  in  the 
8 


;..     .          * 

114  Feather stonhaugtfs  Geological  Report. 

vicinity  of  Frostburg  are  said  to  give  a  thickness  of  fifty- four 
feet.*  A  section  of  the  strata  at  the  Junior  Furnace,!  Scioto, 
Ohio,  shows  a  mean  thickness  of  about  six  feet  in  three  beds 
alternating  with  coal.  The  deposites  of  this  kind  which  I  have 
examined  in  the  United  States  appear  to  have  been  made 
almost  all  from  fresh-water  chalybeates,  loaded  with  ferrugi- 
nous matter,  which  accords  with  similar  beds  in  Europe.  At 
Abersychan,  in  South  Wales,  England,  the  beds,  in  a  breadth 
of  119  yards,  give  an  aggregate  thickness  of  42  feet  8  inches 
of  coal,  yielding  upwards  of  30,000  tons  to  the  acre,  whilst  the 
numerous  deposites  of  hydrate  of  iron  alternating  with  the  coal 
veins,  give  at  the  rate  of  15,000  tons  per  acre.  Mr.  R.  C. 
Taylor  states^  that,  by  the  official  returns  of  the  Monmouth- 
shire Canal  Company,  there  were  brought  down  to  the  wharves 
of  Newport  from  that  district  alone,  in  one  year,  513,974  tons 
of  coal,  and  104,129  tons  of  iron. 

Thus  far  the  analogy  between  the  structure  of  this  portion 
of  the  geological  column  in  hoth  hemispheres  seems  to  be  per- 
fect ;  it  fails,  however,  as  it  respects  the  salt,  which  in  England 
is  drawn  from  the  new  red  sandstone  group,  higher  up  in  the 
series  than  the  coal  measures,  whilst  in  this  country,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in  Ohio,  and  on  the  Kenawha  in  Virginia,  the  coal 
strata  have  to  be  penetrated  to  arrive  at  the  salt.  In  my  report 
of  last  year§  I  gave  a  section  of  this  kind  700  feet  deep,  at 
Kiskiminetas,  in  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Hildreth  states  i  that, 
twenty-five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Muskirigum,  wells 
have  been  sunk  900  feet  deep  for  salt,  which  is  300  feet 
below  the  level  of  tide- water.  It  is  a  very  general  opinion  that 
these  wells  are  supplied  from  the  percolation  of  fresh  water 
through  certain  saliferous  strata,  charged  with  particles  of 

*  Report  of  an  examination  of  the  coal  measures,   including  the  iron  ore 
deposites,  Sec.     George  W.  Hughes,  U.  S.  civil  engineer.  Page  20. 

fDr.  Hildreth's  observations,  &c.     Silliman,  Oct.  1835.  Page  133. 
+  Transactions  Geological  Society  of  London,  vol.  3,  page  436, 
$  Page  36, 


• 
Feather  stonhavgtts  Geological  Report.  115 

salt,  and  of  course  sufficiently  porous  to  be  pervious  to  water 
These  strata  consist  of  porous,  whitish-colored,  fine-grained 
sandstone,  often  tinged  with  a  red  color  ;  calcareous  rocks  of  a 
harder  structure  ;  marly  clays,  containing  particles  of  salt ; 
and  cavities,  formerly  containing  large  crystals.  These  general 
characters  seem  to  be  common  to  all  the  borings.  From  the 
general  direction  of  the  salt-works  of  this  country  an  inference 
may  be  drawn  that  these  saliferous  rocks  run  parallel  to  the 
direction  of  the  great  bituminous  coal  field,  and  may,  in  fact, 
constitute  a  mineral  zone,  saturated  with  salt,  and  conforming 
in  its  general  direction  to  other  great  mineral  zones  parallel 
to  it  on  the  east.  This  is  a  subject  highly  deserving  the  most 
accurate  observation.  The  deeper  the  wells  are  sunk,  the 
stronger  the  brines  are  found,  probably  on  account  of  the  ex- 
hausted state  of  the  rocks  previously  used.  Generally  speaking, 
also,  the  brines  only  become  gypseous  at  the  greatest  depths.^ 
Considering,  however,  the  Alleghany  or  Backbone  moun- 
tain alluded  to,  near  Shellburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  as  a  great 
geographical  boundary  separating  the  Western  bituminous  coal 
measures  from  all  the  anthracite  beds  of  the  Silurian  rocks, 
running  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  join  the  Cumberland 
mountains,  and  having  the  salt  deposites  west  of  it,  we  find 
some  important  salines  east  of  this  great  boundary,  as  at  Salt- 
ville,  near  Abingdon,  in  Washington  county,  Virginia  ;  but 
the  floor  of  this  valley,  lying  between  Clinch's  and  Walker's 
mountains,  is  the  highly-inclined  limestone  found  east  of  Han- 
cock, in  Maryland,  alternating  with  shale,  and  carrying  older 
fossils  than  those  which  are  found  even  in  the  carboniferous 
limestone.  The  Abingdon  wells,  which  I  visited  in  1834,  are 
in  a  totally  different  deposite  from  those  stony  strata  west  of  the 
boundary  just  described.  The  valley  in  question  has,  before 
the  deposite  of  the  salt,  been  much  deeper  than  it  is  now,  and 
has  been  partly  filled  up  by  gypseous  and  saliferous  clays.  In 
digging  the  first  ten  feet,  they  go  through  a  blackish  loam 
which  forms  the  surface  of  the  whole  valley,  then  twenty  feet 


116  FeathcrstonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

of  blue  and  reddish  clay,  then  thirty  feet  of  clays  very  much 
intermixed  with  gypsum,  and  lower  down,  to  about  two  hun- 
dred and  twelve  feet — the  greatest  depth  they  have  been 
obliged  to  go,  for  here  the  boring  instruments  drop  into  an 
unmeasured  deposite  of  brine — through  masses  of  gypsum,* 
sometimes  containing  a  little  clay,  and  occasionally  compact 
argillaceous  laminae,  with  ferruginous  pebbles  and  pieces  of 
sandstone.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  these  salt- wells  are 
extensive  dry  deposites  of  gypsum,  where  it  is  quarried  for  the 
use  of  the  adjacent  country.  There  are  also  others  higher 
up  the  valley,  nearer  the  sources  of  the  Holston.  The  aver- 
age quantity  of  brine  necessary  to  make  a  bushel  of  salt  at 
Kenawha  is  said  to  be  about  seventy  gallons,  but  at  Saltville, 
twenty-four  gallons  are  sufficient  to  make  one  bushel,  and  this 
of  the  purest  kind,  there  being  no  traces  of  muriate  of  lime 
in  it,  which  is  so  troublesome  at  the  other  salt-works  where 
the  brine  acts  upon  the  calcareous  rocks.  The  brine  here 
comes  from  the  pumps  loaded  with  sulphate  of  lime  or  gyp- 
sum, which  is  deposited  in  the  form  of  blocking  in  the  pans 
where  the  brine  is  boiled.  These  salines  appear  to  be  in- 
exhaustible. Ligneous  fuel,  however,  is  rapidly  disappear- 
ing from  the  neighborhood,  and  the  proprietors  would  do  well 
(o  institute  a  search  for  coal,  which  may  probably  be  found  in 
the  vicinity. 

The  geological  position  of  Pittsburg  is  interesting.  The 
Alleghany  and  Monongahela  rivers  unite  here  to  form  the 
Ohio.  In  ancient  times,  before  the  streams  of  this  continent 

*  There  is  a  striking  analogy  between  this  deposite  and  those  of  Ischil,  on  the 
Gmunden  lake,  in  Germany,  which  originally  gave  its  name  to  Salzburgh. 
There  is  an  interesting  paper  in  the  American  Journa',  &.c.  for  January,  1836, 
from  an  officer  in  the  United  States  navy  who  visited  those  salt-works,  in  which 
he  says,  "  The  gangue  of  the  salt,  if  the  word  may  be  used,  is  composed 
chiefly  of  a  clayey  earth,  mixed  up  with  irregular  blocks  of  sulphate  of  lime. 
The  salt  is  mingled  with  these,  usually  in  strata  of  from  <-ix  inches  to  two  feet 
in  thickness."  Fresh  water  is  let  into  the  chambers  of  these  deposites,  and 
when  saturated  is  drawn  off.  This  is  probably  the  natural  manner  in  which 
the  brine  is  formed  at  Saltville. 


Feather stonhaugVs  Geological  Report'.  117 

were  reduced  to  their  present  level,  the  mud  they  brought 
down  was  deposited  at  the  point  of  their  confluence ;  this,  since 
the  lowering  of  the  streams,  has  become  the  triangular  alluvial 
deposite  where  Pittsburg  is  built,  and  which  now  occupies 
almost  the  whole  area.  From  this  place  the  country  descends 
parallel  with  the  Ohio  river,  whose  banks  of  alternate  sandstone, 
shale,  and  limestone,  are  from  350  to  450  feet  high,  to  Beaver, 
in  Ohio,  where,  in  the  valley  of  the  Big  Beaver  river,  several 
coal  veins  are  observed.  The  country  now  rises  to  Ravenna, 
the  summit-level  of  this  part  of  Ohio,  about  1,140  feet  above 
tide-water.  Boulders  and  gravel  of  primary  rocks  are  for  the 
first  time  found  on  the  route  here,  and  continue  to  increase  in 
proceeding  westward  to  Cleaveland,  Ohio,  upon  Lake  Erie, 
sixty-four  miles  distant.  Here  we  have  the  evidence  of  a 
lowering  of  level  of  the  Western  waters,  a  low  rich  alluvial 
flat  extending  from  the  banks  of  the  lake,  about  fifty  feet 
high,  three  miles  east,  to  its  ancient  border.  The  same  ap- 
pearance presents  itself  in  various  parts  of  the  shore  of  this 
lake,  as  well  as  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario.  At  Sandusky 
regular  beds  of  the  carboniferous  limestone,  with  its  usual 
fossils,  are  found.  On  this  great  level  the  formations  change 
no  more  for  an  immense  distance  in  the  line  of  my  route. 
On  the  approach  to  Detroit  nothing  is  to  be  seen  but  a  low 
sedgy  shore  to  the  west,  and  a  flat  country  to  the  east,  con- 
sisting of  sand  and  clay,  without  any  sensible  inequality  of 
surface,  being  the  old  lacustrine  deposite,  when  the  whole  of 
this  region  formed  one  large  lake.  This  appears  to  have  be- 
come dry  land  at  the  lowering  of  the  level  of  the  waters  of 
this  continent,  more  than  once  already  alluded  to.  At  Fort 
Gratiot,  seventy-five  miles  from  Detroit,  finding  some  anodon- 
tas  on  the  shore  of  the  St.  Clair  river,  I  had  the  curiosity  to 
dig  into  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  bank  of  the  river,  about 
thirty-feet  high,  where  I  found  great  quantities  of  unios,  ana- 
dontas,  and  numerous  fresh-water  shells  enclosed  in  the  clay; 
those  near  the  level  of  the  water  were  quite  soft,  but  indu- 


1 18  Feathers  tonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

rated  afterwards,  and  proved  to  be  the  same  species  as  others 
now  found  in  the  neighboring  parts  of  the  lake.  The  next 
two  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles,  to  the  island  of  Michili- 
'mackinac,  I  made  on  the  lake.*  This  is  a  small  island,  formed 
of  a  soft  and  extremely  porous  calcareous  rock,  broken  down 
from  top  to  bottom  into  a  breccia,  and  re-cemented.  It  has  at 
some  period  been  much  higher  than  it  is,  isolated  portions 
still  remaining  far  above  the  general  level.  The  Sugar-loaf, 
a  sort  of  pinnacle,  or  out-lier,  is  an  instance  of  this.  It  is  a 
brecciated  pillar,  composed  of  adhesive  portions  of  the  old  cal- 
careous beds,  which  have  resisted  the  causes  that  have  over- 
thrown the  stratification  ;  some  of  the  masses  are  vertical, 
others  highly  inclined,  and  some  horizontal.  In  some  parts 
of  the  island  the  beds  were  not  so  much  disturbed,  and  were 
underlain  by  soft,  marly,  broken-down,  calcareous  matter.  I 
saw  very  heavy  masses  of  the  same  porous  limestone  which 
had  been  fished  up  in  the  bay,  which  proves  that  the  island 
is  an  out-lier,  greatly  reduced  in  size,  of  what  was  once  con- 
nected with  the  adjacent  country.  This  my  time  did  not  per- 
mit me  to  visit.  There  is  not  much  to  occupy  a  geologist  on  this 
island,  but  in  my  walks  to  a  small  plantation  called  the  Farm 
of  the  Mission,  I  saw  an  extensive  lacustrine  deposite,  full  of 
various  species  of  planorbis,  &c.  of  the  usual  kind,  the  which, 

*  It  appeared  to  me  somewhat  remarkable  that  on  this  already  important  line 
of  navigation  to  Michilimackinac  and  the  Wisconsin  Territory,  frequented 
by  the  craft  of  the  country  and  by  steamboats  of  the  largest  burden,  the  maps 
should  be  so  absurdly  erroneous  as  they  are,  as  to  the  distances.  In  those 
which  I  had,  and  I  believed  myself  to  have  the  best,  Presqu'isle  is  put  down  a 
great  deal  too  near  to  Michilimackinac,  and  Middle  island  occupies  the  place 
where  Thunder  island  ought  to  be.  The  following  table  of  distances  was  cor- 
rected for  me  by  an  experienced  navigator  on  this  lake  : 

Fort  Gr.atiot  to  Point  aux  Barques         -  -         70  miles, 

to.  Thunder  island  •**•  -         70 

to  Middle  island     -  12 

to  Presqu'isle         -  ,   -  .18 

to  Bois  Blanc,  called  Bubbelo       -  55 

to  Micliittmackiasc          v-  -  -  -         10 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  119 

if  I  had  seen  any  one  to  impart  the  information  to,  I  should 
have  informed  them  would  have  greatly  improved  their  scanty 
crops,  if  they  had  thought  proper  to  dress  their  lands  with  it. 

Intending  to  strike  the  Mississippi  by  the  way  of  the  Wis- 
consin river,  I  proceeded  from  this  point  to  the  mouth  of  Fox 
river,  at  the  bottom  of  Green  bay  of  Lake  Michigan,  where 
Fort  Howard  is  situated,  and  where  a  flourishing  village, 
named  Navarino,  is  rapidly  growing  up.  I  had  no  opportu- 
nity of  landing  at  any  of  the  islands  in  Lake  Michigan,  but 
passed  sufficiently  near  to  the  fine  sections  exhibited  in  the 
lofty  banks  of  the  southernmost  of  the  Wagooshugamessun,  or 
Fox  islands,  to  perceive  they  were  a  white  incoherent  sand- 
stone, such  as  I  subsequently  met  extensive  beds  of  further 
to  the  southwest.  On  examining  the  country  as  rapidly  as 
my  time  permitted,  I  found  a  ledge  of  strong  horizontal  beds 
of  carboniferous  limestone,  about  eight  miles  from  Navarino 
on  the  east,  and  distant  about  two  miles  from  the  lake ;  these 
contained  orthocera,  together  with  the  characteristic  fossils. 
Between  this  ledge  and  the  shore  other  indisputable  evi- 
dences present  themselves  of  the  recession  of  the  waters  of 
the  lake.  The  soil  about  Navarino  is  a  rich  siliceo-calcareous 
loam,  of  the  greatest  fertility. 

At  this  place  that  singular  phenomenon  which  was  observed 
by  the  old  French  discoverers,  and  which  is  mentioned  by 
Charlevoix,  still  attracts  the  attention  of  the  traveller.  I 
had  observed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Gratiot,  on  Lake 
Huron,  evidences  of  a  varying  level  of  the  waters ;  but  as  it 
did  not  differ  from  that  of  all  large  bodies  of  fresh  water,  I 
attributed  it  to  the  influence  of  the  winds  on  the  surface  ;  but 
here  is  a  perfect  representation  of  a  tidal  shore.  I  had  put  rods 
down  to  form  some  estimate  of  this  movement,  and  ascertained, 
soon  after  my  arrival,  that  from  6  P.  M.  to  11  A.  M.  of  the 
succeeding  day,  the  water  had  ebbed  twenty-four  feet,  and 
one  foot  perpendicular.  Subsequently  I  found  the  flux  and 
reflux  to  be  quite  irregular  as  to  periods,  although  the  phe- 


120  FeatherstonhaugVs  Geological  Report. 

nomenon  is  of  daily  occurrence ;  and  this  was  confirmed  to 
me  by  an  intelligent  resident  of.  the  place,  who  was  in  the 
babit  of  observing  it  both  winter  and  summer.  In  the  winter, 
he  informed  me  the  ice  forms  in  a  solid  mass  to  the  bottom 
near  to  the  shores,  whilst  in  the  centre  of  the  river,  the  water 
at  the  flow  lifts  up  the  ice,  which,  when  the  reflux  takes  place, 
cracks,  and  is  swayed  down  again.  The  observations  which 
Governor  Cass  made  near  the  mouth  of  Fox  river  in  1828,* 
show  an  extreme  irregularity  in  the  periods  of  this  rise  and 
fall,  and  which  is  totally  inconsistent  with  the  regular  recur- 
rences of  lunar  influence.  In  the  paper  referred  to,  which  is 
from  the  able  pen  of  Major  Whiting,  U.  S.  A.,  there  is  a  letter 
from  Governor  Cass,  which  explains  the  phenomenon  by  a 
reference  to  causes  as  constant  and  irregular  as  the  phenome- 
non itself.  Green  bay  is  an  arm  of  Lake  Michigan,  running 
nearly  parallel  to  it,  and  about  one-fourth  of  its  length.  Lake 
Michigan  is  about  three  hundred  miles  long  and  fifty  broad, 
holding  a  straight  course  somewhat  east  of  north,  (parallel  to 
all  the  characteristic  mineral  directions  of  this  continent.) 
Governor  Cass  supposes  that  wrhen  the  northerly  winds  are 
packing  up  the  waters  at  the  mouth  of  Fox  river,  the  wind- 
tide  continues  still  driving  on  towards  Chicago,  at  the  southern 
end  of  Lake  Michigan  ;  the  effect  of  which,  by  lowering  the 
level  at  the  mouth  of  Green  bay,  will  cause  an  ebb  from  the 
bay  into  the  lake,  which  will  equally  prevail  at  Fox  river,  and 
this  even  during  the  existence  of  the  wind  that  had  caused 
the  flow  there.  This  would  explain  the  reason  of  Charlevoix's 
surprise  at  seeing  his  canoe  floating  off  in  the  face  of  the 
wind.  A  series  of  observations  made  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Fort  Gratiot,  at  Saginaw  bay,  at  Chicago,  and  Green  bay, 
noting  accurately  the  contemporaneous  state  of  the  winds,  and 
any  change  of  level  at  Michilimackinac,  where  the  same  wind 

*  "  Remarks  on  the  supposed  tides."     Silliman,  vol.  20,  p,  205, 


Featherstonhavgh's  Geological  Report.  121 

woutd  act  upon  Lake  Huron,  would  probably  confirm  the  very 
judicious  opinion  of  Governor  Cass. 

From  this  place  (here  is  canoe  and  flat-boat  navigation  up 
Lower  Fox  river  to  Lake  Winnebago.  At  a  distance  of  about 
forty  miles,  the  banks  of  the  river  are  quite  remarkable  for 
the  beauty  of  their  slopes  ;  and  the  general  fertility  of  the  soil, 
composed  of  siliceo-calcareous  earth,  mixed  up  with  vegetable 
matter,  will  soon  bring  a  great  population  into  this  part  of  the 
country.  On  approaching  the  rapids  of  Kahkawning,  called 
Cocolo  by  the  Canadians,  the  well-wooded  banks  of  the  river 
slope  in  such  a  uniform  and  graceful  manner,  that  the  broad 
stream  seems  to  be  gliding  through  an  amphitheatre.  There 
is  a  large  flat  area  at  these  falls,  which  seem  to  have  a  descent 
of  about  twenty  feet  to  the  mile,  across  which  is  a  portage, 
served  by  the  drunken  Winnebagoes  of  this  place.  The 
water  falls  over  horizontal  beds  of  the  carboniferous  limestone. 
Twelve  miles  further  the  river  falls  about  six  feet  over  another 
ledge  of  the  same  formation,  at  a  place  called  La  Grande 
Chute.  Coasting  the  west  shore  of  the  lake,  which  lies  low, 
and  is  crowded  with  fine  forest  trees  springing  from  the  richest 
soil,  I  reached  the  Pawaygun,  or  Wolf  river,  in  about  twenty 
miles.  The  shores  of  all  the  waters  here  produce  great  quan- 
tities of  zizania  aquatica,  or  wild  rice,  from  which  the  Menom- 
onies,  or  rice-eaters,  receive  their  name.  From  this  place,  for 
about  one  hundred  miles,  the  country  lies  very  low,  the  eleva- 
tions of  land  being  trifling,  and  principally  composed  of  the 
sand  resulting  from  the  disintegration  of  ancient  beds  of  sand- 
stone ;  it  may  be  considered,  with  this  exception,  a  great  rice- 
swamp.  -  At  a  place  called  Apaekquay,  or  Rush  lake,  I  saw 
several  thousand  acres  of  zizania  together,  two  miles  in  one 
direction  and  five  or  six  in  another,  resembling  an  immense 
field  of  wheat,  with  the  heads  just  formed  and  waving  about. 
At  other  places  the  channel  went  for  great  distances  through 
dense  areas  of  wild-rice  stalks,  ten  feet  high,  mixed  up  with 
rushes  and  other  acquatic  plants,  so  as  to  exclude  every  object 


122  Featherstonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

but  the  sky.  At  times  the  water  was  so  shallow  it  was  with 
difficulty  the  canoe  could  be  forced  through  it.  Often  it  was 
necessary  to  trust  altogether  to  the  compass,  and  the  immediate 
approach  to  Fort  Winnebago  was  so  tortuous,  the  channel  so 
often  turned  back  upon  itself,  that  the  compass  was  quite  use- 
less. Whatever  the  direction,  the  country  is  covered  with 
these  tall  plants,  and  the  grasses  on  the  land,  when  you  suc- 
ceed in  getting  there,  are  so  rank  (now  that  the  buffalo  has 
left  this  part  of  the  country)  that  it  is  difficult  to  advance.  It 
is  in  fact  the  summit  level  of  this  part  of  the  country,  the  Fox 
river  draining  it  towards  the  north,  and  Rock  river  and  the 
Wisconsin  draining  it  towards  the  south.  Before  the  retreat 
of  the  waters,  which  has  been  before  spoken  of,  which  perhaps 
was  contemporaneous  with  the  disintegration  of  the  sandstone, 
these  extensive  rice-swamps  have  been  lakes,  and  it  is  only 
since  their  subsidence  that  the  zizania  has  begun  to  grow. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Winnebago  the  country  begins 
to  rise,  and  the  beds  of  carboniferous  limestone  observed  in 
Lower  Fox  river,  are  overlain  by  beds  of  quartzose  sandstone, 
having  occasional  siliceo-calcareous  seams  amongst  them. 
The  sandstone  beds  are  horizontal,  disintegrate  easily,  and 
are  often  variegated  in  color,  having  red,  orange,  and  dark 
tints.  I  was  taken  to  a  locality  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
fort  where  this  stone  had  been  quarried,  and  became  imme- 
diately aware  that  I  was  in  the  vicinity  of  a  galeniferous  dis- 
trict, for  I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  analogous  formation 
in  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  which  is  spoken  of  in  my  report 
of  last  year.* 

From  Fort  Winnebago  there  is  a  portage  to  the  Wisconsin 
river  of  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  yards.  This  is  a  dead 
flat  of  black  mud  and  sand,  occasionally  overflowed  so  as  to 
admit  of  canoes  passing  to  Fox  river,  and  from  which  the 
waters  have  retreated.  The  Wisconsin  is  an  ample  stream, 

*  Page  43. 


Feather stonhaugVs  Geological  Report.  123 

with  numerous  islands  and  sandbars.  The  low  alluvial  banks 
are  sand,  with  seams  of  red  oxyde,  showing  that  they  are  de- 
rived from  the  old  sandstone  beds.  These  banks  are  always 
well  wooded,  and  pine,  as  in  all  sandy  countries,  is  of  frequent 
occurrence.  The  sandstone  strata  soon  occur  after  getting 
upon  the  swift  current  of  this  river,  in  banks  about  sixty  feet 
high,  which  become  loftier  as  the  stream  deepens  its  bed. 
One  of  these  localities,  where  the  escarpment  is  near  two  hun- 
dred feet  high,  is  an  isolated  ridge,  a  little  in  the  rear  of  the 
left  bank,  with  a  crest  resembling,  in  an  obscure  manner,  walls 
and  batteries,  and  has  obtained  the  appellation  of  Fortification 
rock.  Great  quantities  of  the  valves  of  unios  and  anodontas 
are  found  all  the  way  from  Green  bay  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Wisconsin,  at  the  edge  of  the  stream,  left  there  by  the  musk- 
rats  and  otters.  About  forty-five  miles  from  the  portage,  ano- 
ther picturesque  mass  of  horizontal  sandstone  presents  itself, 
called  Petit  rocher.  There  is  a  remarkably  fine  view  from  a 
lofty  hill  at  a  place  called  Helena,  where  a  shot-tower  has 
been  sunk  near  two  hundred  feet  in  the  sandstone  :  the 
i  iver  is  seen  for  a  great  distance  winding  through  the  rich  flat 
lands  of  the  valley,  which  is  bordered  on  both  sides  by  high 
rounded  hills,  with  occasional  escarpments,  separated  by  well- 
wooded  coves  or  vales,  called  by  the  French  coulees.  Boul- 
ders and  fragments  of  limestone  are  found  in  the  vicinity, 
resembling  the  Missouri  galeniferouslimstone,  with  occasional 
narrow  seams  of  sulphate  of  barytes  in  it.  A  little  lower 
down,  the  river  has  undermined  the  strata,  and  a  mass  of 
sandstone,  about  thirty  feet  high  and  two  hundred  feet  long, 
has  scaled  off  from  the  body  of  the  rocks,  leaving  a  smooth 
face.  This  place  is  called  the  Fallen  rocks.  The  nature  of 
the  scenery  is  much  the  same  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  : 
rich  flat  lands  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  the  slopes,  somewhat 
more  sparsely  wooded,  are  covered  with  high  grass,  except 
where  broad  spaces  of  escarpment  (so  soft  that  the  swallows 
in  great  numbers  have  been  able  to  pick  holes  in  it  and 


124  Featherstonhaitgh'>s  Geological  Report. 

build  their  nests)  peep  out  and  give  the  general  line  of  the 
river  a  castellated  appearance.  Upon  the  face  of  these  white 
sandstone  beds,  figures  of  deer,  men,  and  horses,  have  been 
painted  in  red,  after  their  manner,  by  the  Indians.  The  islands 
in  the  river  are  very  numerous,  as  well  as  the  sandbars,  which 
sometimes  scarcely  admit  of  the  passage  of  a  canoe  in  a  low 
state  of  the  water,  and  several  extensive  prairies  are  passed. 
Below  Pine  river,  which  comes  in  west  of  Helena,  on  the  right 
bank,  limestone  is  found  in  place  on  the  sandstone,  and  in- 
creases in  thickness  towards  the  Mississippi.  Mineral  blos- 
som, as  it  is  called,  or  mamillary  quartz,  siliceous  matter 
coating  the  cherty  limestone  in  chalcedonic  layers,  barytes, 
and  other  indications,  announce  the  vicinity  of  the  galenifer- 
ous  rocks.  Frequent  indications  also  of  carbonate  of  copper 
are  found,  of  which  the  veins  show  themselves  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Wisconsin,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mineral  point. 
On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  reviewing  the 
appearances  presented  by  the  country  left  behind,  it  becomes 
apparent  that  evidences  of  a  great  aqueous  movement  are!*  con- 
stant along  the  whole  line  from  Michilimackinac  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  extent  and  direction  of  which  cannot  be  reasoned 
upon  until  the  whole  area  lying  between  the  Wisconsin  and 
Lake  Superior  is  examined.  At  Michilimackinac  the  calca- 
reous strata,  which  are  analagous  to  those  on  the  Wis- 
consin, are  broken  up  into  brecciated  masses.  The  islands  in 
the  vicinity  of  Green  bay  are  the  remains  of  sandstone  beds 
once  continuous  through  the  country,  and  overlying  the  beds 
of  carboniferous  limestone  nearNavarino  and  at  Kahkawning. 
On  rising  the  country  to  the  Apackquay  lake,  the  incoherent 
sandstone  appears  to  have  been  broken  down  to  form  the 
present  loose  sandy  soil  of  the  adjacent  country.  There  is, 
upon  the  whole,  reason  to  believe  that  the  denuding  forces 
which  acted  when  the  general  water-level  was  lowered,  and 
which  probably  brought  the  primary  boulders  from  the  north- 
west, (found  all  the  way  from  Beaver  river  on  the  Ohio,) 


Feather  stonhaugVs  Geological  Report.  125 

have  carried  away  a  vast  extent  of  mineral  surface,  and  that 
all  the  great  sand  deposites  from  Lake  Winnebago,  as  well 
as  those  in  the  valley  of  the  Wisconsin,  the  valley  of  the 
Wisconsin  itself,  the  coves  and  dells  and  coulees  between 
the  sandhills,  which  now  so  much  diversify  the  face  of  the 
country,  are  the  result  of  the  same  denuding  force.  The  very 
great  extent  of  the  arenaceous  deposites  can  only  have  been 
caused  by  an  ancient  breaking  up  of  these  incoherent  sand- 
stone rocks. 

On  approaching  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  west-by-south, 
the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi  appears,  about  450  feet  high, 
and  the  river  perhaps  900  yards  wide,  its  water  somewhat 
clearer  than  that  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  the  zizania  continuing 
along  its  banks.  Four  or  five  miles  N.  N.  W.  from  this  point 
Prairie  du  Chien  is  seen,  a  fine  flat,  where  Fort  Crawford  is 
built.  East  of  the  garrison  and  on  the  edge  of  the  prairie  there 
is  a  fine  continuous  escarpment  of  calcareous  rocks,  from  three 
to  four  hundred  feet  high,  alternating  with  sandstone.  This 
limestone  very  much  resembles  that  in  Missouri  before  allu- 
ded to  ;  the  beds  are  horizontal,  of  a  grayish  buff  color,  some 
of  them  compact,  others  with  cavities  containing  crystals  of 
carbonate  of  lime.  These  bluffs  are  cherty  towards  the  top,  and 
where  this  commences  I  observed  the  beds  to  be  occasionally 
made  up  of  concentric  circles.  1  found  one  mass,  nine  feet  long 
and  six  feet  wide,  entirely  made  up  of  such  circles,  some  of 
which  were  two  feet  diameter.  It  was  sufficiently  curious  to 
make  a  drawing  of,  of  which  diagram  No.  16  is  a  representation. 
I  also  brought  a  fragment  of  it  away  with  me.  This  is  a  sort  of 
oolitic  structure  upon  a  great  scale. 

From  Prairie  du  Chien  1  commenced  ascending  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  which  flows  the  whole  distance  (about  260  miles) 
from  this  place  to  Fort  Snelling,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Minnay 
Sotor  or  St.  Peter's  river,  through  the  same  formations  that 
prevail  on  the  Wisconsin,  the  calcareous  rock,  however,  pre- 
dominating on  this  upper  line.  It  would  not  be  consistent  with 


126  FeatherstonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

the  nature  of  this  report  to  enlarge  it  with  repeated  relations  of 
the  great  heauty  and  amenity  of  the  scenery  of  the  upper  por- 
tion of  this  often-described  river ;  the  formation  being  the  same 
along  the  whole  line,  the  geologist  has  to  limit  his  observations 
to  incidents  connected  with  geological  causes,  and  reserve  what 
belongs  to  descriptive  geography,  and  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  Indian  nations  he  passes  amongst,  as  I  shall  do  upon  this 
occasion,  to  a  work  of  appropriate  character.  It  is  one  of  the 
great  advantages  of  geological  science,  that  where  interesting 
minerals  and  metals  and  fossils  are  wanting,  there  is  always  in- 
struction to  be  received  in  the  study  of  the  causes  which  have 
modified  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  whatever  direction  we 
move.  This  is  particularly  true  as  it  regards  the  bed  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  surrounding  country,  the  physical  geogra- 
phy of  which  is  remarkable.  The  valley  through  which  the 
stream  flows  is  generally,  below  Lake  Pepin,  from  one  and  a 
half  to  two  miles  wide.  There  has  at  some  time  been  a  contin- 
uous alluvial  deposite  through  its  entire  breadth,  and  over  which 
the  water  has  flowed  in  a  stream,  as  it  does  now  in  the  Lower 
Mississippi,  uninterrupted  by  islands.  Since  the  reduction  of 
the  general  water-level,  the  river,  often  divided  into  more 
than  one  channel,  now  cuts  its  way  through  the  ancient  depos- 
ite, sometimes  the  main  channel  being  on  one  side,  sometimes 
on  another,  and  separating  the  old  bottom  into  innumerable 
islands,  some  of  them,  at  times,  being  several  miles  long,  and 
all  of  them  having  a  level  of  from  six  to  twelve  feet  above  the 
streams.  This  state  of  things  makes  the  navigation  difficult  to 
strangers,  who,  believing  themselves  in  the  channel,  get  into 
bays  from  which  there  is  no  egress.  Whenever  the  current 
slackens  there  is  always  reason  to  doubt  the  channel.  These 
islands  are  extremly  well  wooded,  and  afford  generally  excel- 
lent situations  to  "  camp  out"  at  night,  as  it  is  called,  the  soil 
being  dry,  the  situation  sheltered,  and  dry  wood  abundant. 
The  banks  of  the  valley  ( for  they  can  scarcely  be  called  the 
banks  of  the  river,  since  where  the  stream  runs  close  to  one 


FeatherstonhavgWs  Geological  Report.  127 

shore  the  other  side  of  the  valley  can  seldom  be  seen  on  ac- 
count of  the  intervening  islands,  or  bluffs,  as  they  are  more 
generally  called)  are  from  300  to  400  feet  high,  consisting  of 
horizontal  strata  of  alternating  cherty  limestone  and  sandstone, 
the  principal  ledges  of  which  mark,  for  great  distances,  the  con- 
tinuity of  beds,  giving  thus  a  particular  character  to  the  bluffs  ; 
these  are  frequently  prolonged  into  extended  escarpments, 
and  at  other  times  are  broken  and  rounded  off  by  the  weather 
into  sharp  peaks  and  grotesque  castellated  appearances,  at  the 
termination  of  the  small  vales,  or  coulees,  from  500  to  1 ,000 
yards  wide,  which  come  in  at  right  angles  to  the  river,  but  do 
not  usually  extend  far  into  the  land.  Sometimes  other  coulees, 
parallel  to  the  valley,  come  into  these  last  again,  for  the  dis- 
tance of  800  yards  from  the  valley.  Beyond  them  the  land  is 
generally  level,  forming  a  very  extensive  plateau  of  country. 
The  soil,  from  the  admixture  of  lime,  sand,  and  vegetable 
matter,  is  of  a  superior  kind,  as  is  proved  by  the  rank  vegeta- 
tion, and  the  luxuriant  growth  of  trees  on  the  pleasing  slopes 
and  vales  of  this  very  beautiful  country.  These  various  mod- 
ifications of  the  surface  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  denuding 
power  of  the  ancient  floods  which  have  passed  over  the  face 
of  the  country,  and  the  agency  of  the  weather  acting  upon 
them  during  long  periods  of  time.  Among  the  most  remark- 
able of  these  peaks  is  a  sort  of  truncated  cone,  on  the  right 
bank,  called  Cap  a  Vaisle  by  the  old  French  settlers,  on  account 
of  the  wild  onions  which  grow  in  the  bottom  of  the  adjoining 
valley,  which  appears  to  extend  far  up  into  the  country  The 
first  stream  of  any  importance  on  the  right  bank,  beyond  this 
cape,  is  the  Upper  loway,*  then  Root  river ;  on  the  left  bank 
the  Bad-axe  river  flows  through  a  very  beautiful  valley  ;  be- 
tween this  stream  and  Racoon  river  is  a  small  prairie,  but  a 
more  extensive  strip  of  low  land  of  this  character  is  found  a 

*  I  found  the  rivers  very  erroneously  put  down,  and  Lake  Pepin  disproportionately 
long  on  the  maps.  In  the  chart  of  the  Indian  country  east  and  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, which  accompanies  this  report,  I  have  endeavored  to  adjust  these  mistakes. 


128  FeatherstonhaugVs  Geological  Report. 

little  higher  up,  at  Prairie  la  Crosse,  or  Ball-game  river,  where 
the  Indians  formerly  used  to  convene  to  play  at  their  favorite 
game.  The  bluffs  are  about  two  miles  inland,  and  before  the 
reduction  of  the  water-level,  this,  like  all  the  other  prairies 
similarly  situated,  must  have  been  a  lake.  There  are  three 
remarkable  capes  at  the  south  end  of  this  prairie,  with  singu- 
lar mural  escarpments,  the  most  northerly  one  separated  from 
the  rest  by  a  coulee.  Beyond  this  point  all  the  Indians  are 
Nacotahs,  or  of  the  Sioux  nations.* 

Beyond  Ball-game  river,  on  the  left  bank,  is  an  important 
stream,  named  Black  river,  down  which  stream  a  great  deal  of 
fine  pine  timber  is  floated.  The  country  all  around  here  is  re- 
markable for  its  fertility  and  beauty.  The  most  conspicuous 
locality  on  this  portion  of  the  upper  Mississippi,  is  a  place 
called  by  the  French  La  Montague  qui  trempe  a  Veau^  or  the 
mountain  which  is  steeped  in  the  water.  I  ascended  to  the  top 
of  this  peak,  which  has  a  steep  ascent  of  about  500  feet ;  the 
crest  at  the  top  runs  about  north  and  south  for  200  yards,  and 
is  not  more  than  three  or  four  yards  wide,  falling  off  in  a  pre- 
cipice to  the  west,  and  having  a  sharp  slope  of  rich  soil  to  the 
east,  well  covered  with  trees  and  shrubs.  From  the  top  there 
is  an  extensive  view  of  the  course  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
country  in  the  interior  beyond  its  banks.  The  same  constant 
character  of  the  valley  is  observed  here :  a  rich  bottom,  two  or 
three  miles  wide,  broken  into  islands-  and  swamps  and  ponds, 
and.  the  main  channel  of  the  river  flowing  down  between 
Trempe  a  Veau  and  the  right  bank,  about  1,200  yards  wide. 
This  curious  peak  has  been  represented  as  ua  rocky  island, 
separated  from  the  left  bank  of  the  river,"  and  to  be  "  very 
near  the  east  bank  of  the  river."f  This  error  was  no  doubt 
occasioned  by  the  writer's  looking  at  it  from  the  right  bank, 
and  not  stopping  to  examine  it.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  isolated  bluff, 
about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  circumference,  separated  from 

*  Sioux  is  an  abbreviation  of  Nahtowessioux,  Men  of  the  Woods, 
t  Keating's  Narrative  of  an  Expedition,  &c.  vol.  1,  p.  271. 


Feather  stonhaitgWs  Geological  Report,  129 

the  right  bank,  and  not  from  the  east,  the  intervening  space 
being  occupied  by  the  present  main  channel.  From  the  top  of 
Trempe  a  Veau,  its  whole  history  is  seen  at  a  glance  :  the 
eastern  bluffs  are  distant  at  least  five  miles  from  it,  and  in  one 
part  recede  still  more ;  an  extensive  prairie,  having  few  or  no 
trees,  extending  east  and  west  about  twenty-five  miles,  and 
from  five  to  six  miles  wide,  north-by-east,  by  compass,  sep- 
arating this  out-lier  from  those  bluffs  to  the  east.  It  is  evident 
that  the  Mississippi  has  once  passed  north  of  this  out-lier, 
has  covered  the  prairie,  then  a  lake,  and  has  coasted  the  dis- 
tant eastern  bluffs.  This  affords  another  incontrovertible 
instance  of  that  remarkable  reduction  of  the  fresh-water  level 
of  this  continent,  before  alluded  to,  at  which  period  the  con- 
tracted channel  left  the  then  lake,  and  cut  off  the  Trempe  a 
Veau  from  the  right  bank.  Ompedo  Wakeen,  brother  to 
Wabeshah,  a  celebrated  chief  of  a  neighboring  band  of  Naco- 
tahs,  told  me,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  I  visited  the  place, 
that  the  Indians  called  it  Minnay  Chonkahah,  or  Bluff  in  the 
water,  and  that  they  resorted  to  it  at  the  beginning  of  the 
wild-geese  season,  to  make  offerings  to  Wakon,  or  the  deity, 
for  success  in  hunting. 

A  few  miles  higher  up,  there  is  another  prairie  on  the  right 
bank,  where  Wabeshah's  band  have  their  lodges  ;  and  about 
half  way  from  this  place  to  Lake  Pepin,  is  another,  on  the  same 
side  of  the  river,  still  more  extensive,  and  bordered  with  cedar 
trees.  Having  a  copy  of  Carver's  Travels  with  me,  and  having 
always  found  his  descriptions  deserving  of  very  great  confi- 
dence, I  had  been  anxious  to  discover  a  remarkable  locality 
he  speaks  of,*  and  which,  from  the  doubts  expressed  by  other 

*  "  One  day,  having  landed  on  the  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  some  miles  below 
Lake  Pepin,  whilst  my  attendants  were  preparing  my  dinner,  I  walked  out  to  take 
a  view  of  the  adjacent  country.  I  had  not  proceeded  far  before  I  came  to  a  fine, 
level,  open  plain,  on  which  I  perceived,  at  a  little  distance,  a  partial  elevation,  that 
had  the  appearance  of  an  intrenchmcnt.  On  a  nearer  inspection  I  had  greater  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  it  had  really  been  intended  for  this  many  centuries  ago.  Not- 
withstanding it  was  now  covered  with  grass,  I  could  plainly  discern  that  it  had 

9 


130  Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

travellers,*  they  evidently  had  never  seen.  The  passage  in 
Carver  is  so  minutely  descriptive,  and  the  existence  of  the 
remains  of  a  work  capacious  enough  to  hold  5,000  men  was 
something  so  remarkable,  that  I  was  solicitous  not  to  miss  the 
place,  however  troublesome  the  search,  since  he  does  not  say 
on  which  bank  of  the  river  it  is,  and  merely  speaks  of  it  as 
"  some  miles  below  Lake  Pepin." 

On  climbing  the  bank  where  these  evergreen  trees  were, 
which  is  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  about  eight  miles 
S.  E.  of  Roque'sf  trading-house,  near  the  entrance  of  Lake 

once  been  a  breastwork  of  about  four  feet  in  height,  extending  the  best  part  of  a 
mile,  and  sufficiently  capacious  to  cover  five  thousand  men.  Its  form  was  some- 
what circular,  and  its  flanks  reached  to  the  river.  Though  much  defaced  by  time, 
every  angle  was  distinguishable,  and  appeared  as  regular,  and  fashioned  with  as 
much  military  skill,  as  if  planned  by  Vauban  himself.  The  ditch  was  not  visible, 
but  I  thought,  on  examining  more  curiously,  that  I  could  perceive  there  certainly  had 
been  one.  From  its  situation,  also,  I  am  convinced  that  it  must  have  been  de- 
signed for  this  purpose.  It  fronted  the  country,  and  the  rear  was  covered  by  the 
river,  nor  was  there  any  rising  ground  for  a  considerable  way  that  commanded  it ; 
a  few  straggling  oaks  were  alone  to  be  seen  near  it.  In  many  places  small  tracks 
were  worn  across  it  by  the  feet  of  the  elks  and  deer,  and  from  the  depth  of  the  bed 
of  earth  by  which  it  was  covered,  I  was  able  to  draw  certain  conclusions  of  its  great 
antiquity.  I  examined  all  the  angles  and  every  part  with  great  attention,  and  have 
often  blamed  myself  since  for  not  encamping  on  the  spot,  and  drawing  an  exact 
plan  of  it.  To  show  that  this  description  is  not  the  offspring  of  a  heated  imagina- 
tion, or  the  chimerical  tale  of  a  mistaken  traveller,  I  find  on  inquiry  since  my 
return,  that  Mons.  St.  Pierre  and  several  traders  have,  at  different  times,  taken 
notice  of  similar  appearances,  on  which  they  have  formed  the  same  conjectures, 
but  without  examining  them  so  minutely  as  I  did.  How  a  work  of  this  kind  could 
exist  in  a  country  that  has  hitherto  (according  to  the  generally  received  opinion) 
been  the  seat  of  war  to  untutored  Indians  alone,  whose  whole  stock  of  military 
knowledge  has  only,  till  within  two  centuries,  amounted  to  drawing  the  bow,  and 
whose  only  breastwork  even  at  present  is  the  thicket,  I  know  not.  I  have  given 
as  exact  an  account  as  possible  of  this  singular  appearance,  and  leave  to  future 
explorers  of  these  distant  regions  to  discover  whether  it  is  a  production  of  nature 
or  art." — Travels  through  the  interior  parts  of  North  America,  in  the  years  1766, 

1767,  1768,  by  J.  Carver:  Esq.  Page  57,  58.     London,  1778. 
*  Keating's  Narrative,  &c.  vol.  1,  page  276. 
|  A  half-breed  known  in  the  Indian  country  by  the  name  of  Wahjustahchay 

or  Strawberry. 


Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  131 

Pepin,  I  found  myself  on  an  extensive  and  beautifully  smooth 
prairie.  At  a  distance  not  exceeding  two  miles,  I  saw 
some  unusual  elevations  to  the  south ;  and,  hoping  I  had  had 
the  good  fortune  to  find,  at  length,  the  true  place,  I  walked  to 
them,  and,  on  reaching  them,  was  at  once  persuaded  that  I  had 
found  the  locality  described  by  Carver,  and  which  was  suffi- 
ciently remarkable  to  justify  the  description  he  had  given  of  it. 
The  elevation  had  the  appearance  of  an  ancient  military  work 
in  ruins  ;  externally  there  was  the  appearance  of  a  ditch,  in 
places  filled  up  with  the  blowing  sand,  and  having  a  slope 
coming  down  from  what  might  be  supposed  the  walls  of  the 
work  to  the  ditch,  of  about  twenty  yards.  Inside  was  a  great 
cavity,  with  irregular  salient  angles ;  and  at  three  different 
parts  Were  the  more  regular  remains  of  something  like  bas- 
tions;  the  cavity  was  seventy  yards  in  diameter,  N.  W.  and 
S.  E.,  including  the  ruins  of  several  terraces  ;  the  circumfer- 
ence of  this  singular  place,  including  the  angles,  was  four 
hundred  and  twenty-four  yards.  Seven  hundred  yards  S.  S. 
E.  of  this  was  another,  resembling  it  in  form  and  size  ;  and  at 
an  equal  distance,  E.  S.  E.  from  this  last,  was  a  larger  one, 
eleven  hundred  yards  round,  with  similar  remains  of  bastions  ; 
this  cavity  would  easily  contain  one  thousand  people  ;  its 
walls,  if  the  word  may  be  applied  to  them,  are  lofty,  and  there 
is  a  deep  ditch  on  the  south  side.  In  the  area  to  the  south  I 
counted  six  more  of  these  elevations,  each  having  a  rude 
resemblance  to  the  other,  with  what  also  appeared  to  be  a  line 
of  defence,  connecting  these  works  with  each  other.  At  the 
northern  end  of  this  singular  assemblage  of  elevations,  every 
thing  bears  the  appearance  of  rude  artificial  construction  ;  at 
the  southern  end,  however,  and  not  far  from  the  river,  the 
works  pass  gradually  into  an  irregular  surface,  a  confused 
intermixing  of  cavities  and  knolls,  that  might  be  satisfactorily 
attributed  to  the  blowing  of  sand.*  There  is  a  growth  of  oak 
timber,  as  Carver  observes,  upon  all  this  part  of  the  elevations. 

*  It  is  a  sand  prairie,  covered  with  a  foot  or  two  of  vegetable  matter. 

9* 


132  Fvatherstonhaugh's   Geological  Report. 

All  the  angles  and  bastions  are  very  much  rounded  by  the 
weather,  and  some  of  the  slopes  outside  consist  of  sand  brought 
there  by  the  wind.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  all  the  appear- 
ances I  have  described  may  have  been  produced  by  the  action 
of  the  wind  ;  but  those  who  think  so,  after  personal  inspec- 
tion, are  bound  to  account  to  themselves  why  other  parts  of 
this  prairie,  and  of  other  prairies  similarly  situated,  are  not 
blown  up,  and  why  the  ground  covered  by  these  elevations  is 
blown  up  in  such  a  manner  as  to  resemble  artificial  wrorks  so 
closely.  If,  when  this  curious  place  becomes  more  known  and 
investigated,  Indian  antiquities  should  be  discovered  commen- 
surate with  the  extent  of  the  work,  such  as  the  stone  instru- 
ments and  weapons  of  offence  usually  found  about  Indian 
encampments,  it  would  decide  with  me  the  question.  If  any 
thing  of  that  kind  is  there,  it  is  probably  buried  beneath  the 
sands  too  deep  for  passing  travellers  to  find.  I  brought  nothing 
away  with  me  but  a  plan  of  the  general  appearance  of  the 
locality,  and  one  or  two  of  the  principal  elevations. 

At  the  southernmost  end  of  Lake  Pepin,  Chippeway  river 
eomes  in  on  the  left  bank,  a  stream  of  considerable  magnitude, 
from  four  to  five  hundred  yards  wide  where  it  joins  the  Mis- 
sissippi ;  the  volume  of  water  is  said  to  be  great  for  sixty 
miles.*  Having  passed  its  mouth  the  scenery  becomes  changed, 
and,  instead  of  a  valley  two  or  three  miles  wide,  full  of  low 
wooded  islands,  Lake  Pepin  presents  itself,  a  sheet  of  water 
about  twenty  miles  long  and  nearly  three  miles  wride  upon  an 
average,  perhaps.  This  is  nothing  but  a  continuation  of  the 
Mississippi  valley  without  any  islands,  with  this  difference, 
that  the  river  occupies  all  the  space  between  the  banks,  whilst 
the  bluffs  and  coulees  present  themselves  with  the  same  gene- 
ral character  as  below.  Why  there  are  no  islands  in  this  part 
of  the  valley,  and  why  it  is  a  lake,  deserve  an  inquiry.  It 

*  At  the  falls  of  this  river,  which  are  very  extensive,  there  is  an  indefinite  quan- 
tity of  water-power.  The  tracts  of  fine  pine  timber  will,  if  preserved  by  order  of 
Government,  be  extremely  valuable.  It  will  be  indispensable  for  building.pur- 
poses  when  settlers  get  into  that  country. 


Feather  stonhaugh?s  Geological  Report.  133 

> 

will  occur  to  every  observer,  that  the  entrance  of  a  stream  of 
such  magnitude  as  the  Chippeway  river,  coming  in  at  right 
angles  to  the  Mississippi,  must  necessarily  dam  up  the  water 
above  it.  Thus,  at  the  general  subsidence  of  the  water-level, 
when  the  alluvial  bottom  of  the  other  part  of  the  valley  would 
be  left  dry  and  plants  begin  to  grow,  it  would  here  be  covered 
up  to  the  northwest  for  a  certain  distance,  whilst  the  wind  and 
high  waves  to  which  this  lake  is  now  so  much  exposed  as 
often  to  make  the  passage  a  dangerous  one,  would  keep  the 
alluvial  matter  in  a  state  of  suspension,  and,  finally  wearing  it 
away,  the  whole  breadth  of  this  part  of  the  valley  would  be 
necessarily  covered  by  water.  This  is  the  way  in  which  I 
would  account  for  the  origin  of  this  lake,  the  only  one  in  the 
whole  course  of  the  river. 

The  strata  towards  the  N.  W.  end  of  the  lake  on  the  north 
side  are  very  cherty,  and  agates  are  frequently  found  amongst 
them.  Opposite  to  a  small  stream  called  Marchessau,  on  the 
south  side,  an  intelligent  trader,  well  acquainted  with  this  part 
of  the  country,  told  me  he  had  picked  up  pieces  of  galena. 
There  are  two  channels  at  the  head  of  the  lake  ;  the  south- 
west one  passes  between  the  right  bank  of  the  river  and  a 
low  narrow  island,  called  Twelve-mile  island,  edged  by  lofty 
and  beautiful  trees.  Up  this  channel,  and  near  a  lofty  out-lier 
about  three  hundred  feet  high,  called  La  Grange,  is  the  village 
of  the  Indian  chief  Machpayah  Muzah,  or  the  Iron  cloud, 
Dootoh,  or  Redwing,  the  celebrated  old  chief,  being  now  dead. 
Two  streams,  the  Vermilion  and  Cannon  river,  fall  into  the 
Mississippi  a  few  miles  higher  up.  Between  them  and  at  a 
distance  not  exceeding  thirty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Peter's,  there  is  a  singular  out-lier  of  sandstone,  which  shows 
how  the  continuity  of  the  strata  has  once  existed,  and  how 
much  the  general  mineral  level  has  been  reduced.  Diagram 
No.  20  represents  this  curious  pillar,  to  which  the  name  of 
Castle  Rock  has  been  given.  It  is  situated  on  what  is  called 
the  Big  Prairie,  and  can  be  seen  for  a  distance  of  twenty 


134  Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

miles,  appearing  like  the  remains  of  a  castle,  or  a  church  with 
a  cupola.  The  total  height  is  ninety  feet,  the  lower  part  be- 
ing about  sixty  feet  high  and  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter : 
the  upper  part  is  thirty  feet  high  and  varies  from  two  and  a 
half  feet  to  fifteen  feet  diameter.  I  had  these  particulars  from 
a  gentleman  who  had  visited  the  place  and  taken  a  drawing 
of  it,  of  which  he  presented  me  a  copy. 

The  banks  of  the  river  now  gradually  lose  their  escarped 
character,  the  left  bank  especially  being  low  and  rolling^  hav- 
ing generally  a  gentle  slope  of  grass  and  trees  to  the  water 
side,  and  rarely  exceeding  one  hundred  feet  high.  About 
forty  miles  from  Lake  Pepin,  St.  Croix  river  comes  in  from 
the  left  bank,  about  120  yards  wide.  This  stream,  after  fol- 
lowing it  north  about  two  miles,  expands  into  a  small  lake  of 
nearly  the  same  breadth.  Beyond  the  St.  Croix  the  Missis- 
sippi becomes  narrow,  and  at  one  place,  where  the  limestone 
beds  on  the  right  side  come  to  the  waters  edge,  is  only  about 
one  hundred  yards  wide,  and  winds  very  ,much.  From  thi& 
place  I  could  hear  distinctly  the  noise  of  the  falls  of  St.  An- 
thony. Four  or  five  miles  before  reaching  tfie  village  of 
Tchaypehahmonee,  or  Little  Crow,  the  limestone  on  the  left 
bank  becomes  very  tenacious  and  twisted ;  the  beds  become 
cavernous,  are  wavy,  and  large  concentric  masses  are  formed 
resembling  those  at  Prairie  dw  Chien ;  the  whole  mineral 
substance  appears  to  have  had  a  tendency  to  resolve  itself  into 
globular  forms.  The  river  is  very  beautiful  about  here  :.  an 
open  stream,  without  islands,  about  300  yards  wide,  flowing 
between  banks  covered  with  handsome  trees,  vines,  and 
grass ;  the  soil  is  exceedingly  rich,  being  composed  of  de- 
composed limestone,  sand,  and  vegetable  matter,  black  and 
deep.  A  short  distance  beyond  the  village  there  is  a  bluff  of 
soft  sandstone,  'in  which  the  Indians  say  there  is  a  cave,  but 
the  rock  from  above  has  fallen  down  with  hundreds  of  tons  of 
sandstone,  and  has  concealed  the  entrance.  Somewhat  higher 
up,  and  only  a  few  miles  from  Fort  Snelling,  is  another  sand- 


Feather 'stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  135 

stone  bluff,  with  a  narrow  ravine,  down  which  trickles  a  small 
stream  of  good  water.  I  followed  this  ravine  about  200 
paces,  and  found  that  it  led  to  the  cave  which  Carver  has  so, 
accurately  described.*  The  Nacotah  Indians  call  it  Wakon 
Teebee,  or  House  of  the  Great  Spirit.  The  ravine  ends  at  a 
circular  wall  of  very  soft  sandstone,  about  forty  feet  high  to 
the  left ;  to  the  right  is  the  cave,  the  entrance  to  which  is 
formed  by  an  arch  about  eighteen  feet  high,  and  thirty  feet 
wide.  The  stream  of  water  comes  through  this  cave,  into 
which  I  advanced  about  forty  paces,  when  the  water  became, 
too  deep.  I  heard  a  rumbling  sound,  at  a  distance,  of  falling 
water,  and  threw  stones  in  at  random,  it  being  dark,  which 
fell  into  deep  water,  as  I  could  ascertain  by  the  sound.  After 
advancing  a  few  paces  into  the  cave  it  loses  its  dimensions, 
being  little  more  than  six  feet  high  and  about  ten  feet  wide. 
The  rock  is  composed  of  a  white  crumbling  sandstone,  easily 
cut  with  a  knife.  The  cave,  like  most  others,  appears  to  owe 
its  origin  to  a  spring  of  water  which  passes  through  it.  The 
Indians  have  cut  many  of  their  hieroglyphics  upon  the  rock. 
Five  miles  beyond  this  cave  the  Minnay  Sotor  Watapah  or 
St.  Peter's  river  comes  into  the  Mississippi  on  the  right  bank  ; 
and,  a  short  distance  above,  at  a  cut-off  which  the  Mississippi 
has  made  by  forcing  its  way  through  the  alluvial  bottom  to  the 
St.  Peter's,  Fort  Sneliing  appears,  at  the  top  of  the  escarp- 
ment, on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi. 

This  is  the  last  military  post  of  the  United  States  to  the 
northwest,  the  natives  having  exclusive  possession  of  the 
country  as  far  as  the  British  settlements,  about  latitude  49 
degrees.  The  fort  is  built  upon  the  bluff,  which  overlooks 
both  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Peter's,  resting  upon  grayish, 
buff-colored,  fossiliferous  beds  of  the  carboniferous  limestone, 
containing  zoophytes,  many  specimens  of  large  orthocera, 
fragments  of  which  measured  a  foot  long  and  more  than  four 
inches  wide.  The  faces  of  some  of  the  rocks  are  covered 

*  Page  64. 


13ft  Feather  slonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

with  fuel,  and  in  some  beds  producta  form  almost  the  body  of 
the  rock.  These  fossiliferous  beds  are  separated  from  the 
great  sandstone  beds  of  the  country,  which  here  go  far  below 
the  level  of  the  river,  by  a  thick  stratum  of  eighteen  feet  of 
compact  subcrystalline  limestone  without  fossils.  Below  this 
stratum  nothing  but  sandstone  appears.*  The  fossiliferous 
beds  are  accessible  in  numerous  localities  as  far  as  the  falls  of 
«  St.  Anthony.  A  stream  which  runs  from  Lake  Calhoun — a 
beautiful  sheet  of  water,  about  eight  miles  from  the  fort — to  the 
Mississippi,  has  worn  its  way  back  through  the  rocks  from  the 
river  a  short  distance,  and  makes  a  fall  there  about  fifty  feet 
high,  the  stream  being  twenty  feet  broad.  I  obtained  many 
fine  fossils  at  this  place,  as  well  as  at  both  banks  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, up  which  I  went  to  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  a  dis- 
tance not  much  exceeding  eight  miles  by  water,  and  the 
banks  not  exceeding  eighty-five  feet,  to  the  flat  prairie  land  of 
the  country. 

An  island  about  450  yards  long  divides  the  Mississippi  into 
two  parts  at  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  which  have  a  very 
irregular  outline,  owing  to  the  soft  sandstone  being  washed 
out  unequally  in  places,  and  the  superincumbent  strata  of 
limestone  falling  down  in  large  blocks;  these  are  piled  up  in 
great  quantities  on  the  bed  of  the  river  immediately  at  the 
foot  of  the  falls.  That  part  of  the  river  on  the  north  side  of 
the  island  is  about  two  hundred  and  twenty  yards  in  width. 
There  is  a  very  fine  smooth  section  of  the  rocks  here  to  the 
water,  about  90  feet  high.  '  I  should  think  the  fall  would  not 
average  more  than  twenty  feet.  The  immense  slabs  which 

*  In  Mr.  Keating's  narrative  of  Major  Long's  expedition  to  the  source  of  St. 
Peter's  river,  before  referred  to,  it  is  stated,  vol.  1,  page  308,  that  this  sandstone 
rests  upon  a  slaty  limestone,  with  a  striped  aspect,  and  that  again  upon  other  calca- 
reous beds  lying  beneath  the  water  level.  This  error  is  to  be  attributed  to  a  hasty 
examination.  At  the  bottom  of  the  talus  are  heavy  blocks  of  limestone,  many  of 
which  lie  flat  in  the  river,  but  they  have  all  fallen  from  the  top.  I  not  only  com- 
pared and  identified  them,  but  examined  the  sandstone  often  at  leisure,  and  it  is 
never  superincumbent  to  any  bed  of  limestone  there,  Descending  much  further 
below  the  water-level  th&n  it  was  possible  to  examine  it. 


Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report.  137 

have  fallen  from  the  limestone  beds  at  the  top  are  covered 
with  producta,  mixed  with  spirifers  and  cardia.  On  the  south 
side  of  the  river  the  line  of  the  falls  is  a  very  irregular  curva- 
ture, and  measures  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  yards  to  the 
island  ;  the  height  of  the  fall  does  not  appear  so  great  on  this 
side,  owing  perhaps  to  the  bed  of  the  river  being  so  much 
choked  up  with  the  fallen*  slabs.  It  is  a  wild,  rocky  scene, 
but  deficient  in  interest  as  a  waterfall  on  account  of  its  want 
of  height.  To  a  geologist,  however,  it  is  exceedingly  inter- 
esting, finding  here  the  uninterrupted  continuation,  for  one 
thousand  miles,  of  the  carboniferous  limestone,  with  its  char- 
acteristic fossils.  At  the  south  side  of  the  falls  I  got  some 
exceedingly  fine  ones,  including  beautiful  specimens  of  del- 
phinula,  bellerophon,  nautilus,  euomphalus,  &c. 

At  Fort  Snelling,  the  St.  Peter's  comes  winding  in  from  the 
southwest,  through  an  ample  valley,  the  banks  or  bluffs  of  which 
vary  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high. 
The  valley  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  wide,  and  contains  a 
great  deal  of  rich  alluvial  soil.  On  the  right  bank  of  the  St. 
Peter's,  about  a  mile  from  the  fort,  is  the  head  establishment 
of  the  American  Fur  Company*  for  the  trade  with  the  Naco- 
tah  or  Sioux  Indians. 

The  St.  Peter's,f  which  remained  forme  now  to  explore,  is 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  wide  at  the  nearest 
point  to  the  fort,  looks  as  if  whitish  clay  had  been  dissolved  in  it, 
and  runs  with  an  extremely  winding  course,  somewhat  repre- 
sented in  the  accompanying  map,  through  the  alluvial  bottom, 
with  low  prairies  on  each  side,  and  fine  wooded  slopes  in  the 
distance.  The  general  direction  of  the  river,  as  far  as  the 
Makato  or  Blue-earth  river,  is  about  southwest ;  from  this  point 

*  From  the  gentlemen  at  the  head  of  these  establishments  I  received  many 
obliging-  attentions  ;  and  to  Mr.  Sibley,  of  this  trading-post,  1  am  indebted  for 
an  excellent  guide  and  interpreter,  an  intelligent  and  faithful  half-breed, 
called  Milor,  a  man  universally  known  in  the  Sioux  country. 

t  Called  by  the  Nacotahs,  Minify  Sotor,  or  Turbid  Water,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  Mississippi,  which,  coming  from  a  siliceous  country,  is  clear. 


138  Featherstonhaiigh^s  Geological  Report. 

it  bends  and  describes  nearly  a  northwest  course  to  its  source. 
Numerous  chiefs  of  bands  of  the  Nacotahs*  have  their  villages 
on  its  banks,  where  they  reside  during  the  season  of  cultivation  ; 
and  which  are  evacuated  by  them  and  their  families  during  the 
hunting  seasons.  About  six  miles  from  the  fort,  on  the  right 
bank,  is  the  village  of  Wahmundeetanka,  or  Big  Eagle,  called 
also  by  the  Canadian  traders  Chien  Noir,  or  Black  Dog. 
A  little  higher  up  on  the  same  bank  is  the  village  of  Peni- 
chon.  About  sixteen  miles  from  the  fort  a  stream  comes  in 
from  the  right  bank  called  by  the  Canadians  Credit  river,  the 
Indians  call  it  Kakahinhahah,  or  River  where  the  elk  was 
put,  to  commemorate,  no  doubt,  some  incident.  A  little  be- 
yond this  the  river  narrows  to  about  eighty  yards,  and  has  a 
N.  N.  W.  course,  but  soon  widens  again  with  high  grassy 
slopes  of  prairie  land.  About  twenty-five  miles  from  the  fort 
the  village  of  a  chief  called  Six,  is  passed  on  the  right  bank. 
Passing  a  place  on  the  left  bank  called  La  Petite  Prairie,  a 
stream  comes  in  from  the  same  side,  which,  from  the  distance 
from  the  fort,  about  forty  miles,  and  other  circumstances, 
appears  to  be  the  river  which  Carverf  gave  his  own  name  to. 
The  Indians  call  it  Do-do-do-ah,  or  Who  sings  of  war. 
Something  short  of  fifty  miles  from  the  fort,  there  is  a  short 
rapid  with  a  strong  current :  the  passage  is  on  the  right  bank 
which  we  soon  got  through  by  holding  on  to  the  bushes  and 
vigorously  applying  the  paddles.  Above  this  is  another  rapid 
with  sandstone  in  place  on  the  right  bank,  the  same  as  that  at 
the  fort.  Further  up,  at  a  place  called  Weahkotee,  or  the 
Sand  hills,  there  is  another  Indian  village.  Beyond  this,  for 
a  great  distance,  the  course  of  the  river  is  very  beautiful  :  a 
great  profusion  of  trees,  shrubbery,  and  high  grass  on  the  bot- 

*In  Major  Long's  expedition  to  the  source  of  the  St.  Peter's  river,  these  Indians 
are  uniformly  called  Dacotahs.  I  made  particular  inquiries  amongst  the  chiefs, 
through  my  interpreter,  and  they  all  concurred  in  the  assertion  that  their  proper 
name  was  Nacotah.  This  word  means  a  united  or  allied  people.  Dacotah 
means  "  my  relations." 

t  Carver's  Travels,  page  74. 


FeatherstonhaugVs  Geological  Report.  139 

toms  and  slopes,  when  rich  prairies  with  black  fertile  soil  com- 
mence.    The  river  is  very  serpentine  in  its  course  and  is  con- 
tinually opening  new  scenes :  sometimes  smooth  conical  hills, 
one  hundred  feet  high,  with  coves  like  amphitheatres,  present 
themselves,  covered  with  verdure,  and  crowned  with  trees  at 
the  top,  when,  at  another  turn,  a  fine  level  prairie  country 
comes  in.    Keetahmeemah,  or  Round  Prairie,  is  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  high,  with  a  fine  slope,  covered  with  grass.    The  In- 
dians have  given  it  this  name  because  it  is  encircled  with  trees. 
Beyond  this  is  the  village  of  Wakondoanka,  or  Lively  Spirit, 
whom  the  voyageurs  call  Le  Bras  Casse,  having  once  had  his 
arm  broken.     Before   reaching   Chankeootah  or  Bois    Franc 
river,  the  rivers  narrows  to  sixty  yards.     This  last  stream 
comes  in  on  the  right  bank,  and  is  the   northern  limit  of  the 
Bois  Franc  district.     This  is  in  fact  an  extensive  forest,  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  miles  broad  by  land,  through  which  the  river 
passes  for  upwards  of  thirty  miles,  on  account  of  its  very 
winding  course.     It  is  said  to  extend  thirty  or  forty  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  St.  Peter's.    It  is  difficult  to  traverse  by  land 
on  account  of  the   swampy  nature  of  the  ground.    I   was  also 
informed  there  was  an  extensive  lake  in  the  central  parts  of 
it,  on  the  south  side.     The  current  becomes  strong  after  en- 
tering the  Bois  Franc.     As  an  evidence  of  the  nature  of  the 
incidents  which  induce  the  Indians  to  give  names  to  a  locality, 
Mahahbohpah,  or  Swan  on  the  ground,  an  elevated  piece  of 
ground  with  trees  on  it,  on  the  right  bank,  may  be  mentioned. 
A  Sioux  shot  a  swan  flying  there.     The  islands  in  this  river 
are  small  and  are  edged  with  willows.     On  the  banks  of  the 
river  I  have  seen  them  forty  to  fifty  feet  high.     Further  up 
the  Bois  Franc  district  a  stream  comes  in  from  the  left  bank, 
called  Weetah-wakatah,  or  Tall  island,  and  about  five  miles 
higher  up  some  ledges  of  horizontal  fawn-colored  limestone 
jut  out  on  the  right  bank,  very  cherty  and  somewhat  vesicu- 
lar; near  the  surface  it  takes  a  reddish  salmon  color,  resem- 
bling very  much  some  beds  I  had  previously  seen  on  the 


140  Feather stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

Wisconsin  and  Upper  Mississippi.  Within  a  few  yards  of 
these  ledges,  and  north  of  them,  a  beautiful  pellucid  stream 
comes  in,  containing  the  purest  water  I  had  seen  in  the 
country.  I  could  not  learn  that  any  name  had  been  given  to 
it,  and  as  it  is  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  first  calcareous 
rock  I  had  met  with  in  place  here,  and  its  purity  rendering  it 
a  very  rare  stream  in  a  country  where  all  are  turbid,  I  named 
it  Abert's  run,  after  Colonel  Abert,  of  the  United  States 
army,  and  chief  of  the  Topographical  bureau.  Higher  up 
on  the  right  bank  is  the  village  of  Wahmundee  Indootah,  or 
Red  Eagle.  The  next  stream  is  Wointseah  Watapah,or  Rush 
river,  rising  far  up  in  the  country,  and  comes  in  on  the  left 
bank  ;  after  it  succeeds  Ghankeoota  Oeanka,  or  the  end  of  the 
Bois  Franc  or  Free  Wood  district,  a  stream  coming  in  on  the 
left  bank.  About  fifteen  miles  further  we  came  to  a  place  called 
Myakah  or  White  Rock,  on  the  right  bank,  an  escarpment 
consisting  of  about  forty  feet  of  granular  sandstone  surmounted 
by  ten  feet  of  fawn-colored  limestone,  the  same  as  that  at 
Abert's  run.  This  sandstone  is  formed  of  semi-transparent 
grains,  loosely  adhering,  with  nodules  here  and  there,  where 
they  are  cemented  by  a  paste  of  clear  siliceous  matter,  the 
whole  making  a  hard,  flinty  mass,  resembling  siliceous  oolite. 
At  the  junction  of  the  limestone  with  the  sandstone,  there  is 
a  seam  of  marly  mineral  matter,  containing  a.  great  deal  of 
silicate  of  iron,  of  a  bluish-green  color.  I  had  seen  traces  of 
this  in  the  bluffs  at  Prairie  de  Chien.  Eight  o,r  nine  miles 
further  on  is  Traverse  des  Sioux,  an  establishment  of  the 
American  Fur  Company.  This  is  a  noted  crossing  place  of 
the  Sioux  Indians  in  old  times.  A  short  distance  from  this 
trading-place,  a  small  stream  comes  in  on  the  right  bank, 
called  Wee-wee  or  Moon  creek.  This  stream,  before  it  falls 
into  the  St.  Peter's,  recedes  a  little,  and  describes  a  semi-circle 
before  it  approaches  the  river  again,  and  repeats  this  several 
times,  so  that  several  small  crescents  are  described  by  the 
stream  before  it  joins  the  river.  In  the  Nacotah  tongue  wee 


Feather  stonhaugfrs  Geological  Report.  141 

signifies  the  sun,  and  wee-wee,  the  moon,  after  which  planet 
the  Indians  have  named  the  stream,  from  the  half-moons  it 
forms.  I  was  very  particular  in  examining  this  locality,  be- 
cause it  is  the  place  where  Major  Long*  abandoned  the  St. 
Peter's,  to  perform  the  rest  of  the  journey  by  land. 

About  two  miles  further  on  the  limestone  and  sandstone  are 
again  in  place,  and  about  three  more  a  long  bluff,  about  twenty- 
five  feet  high,  presents  itself  on  the  right  bank  with  the  same 
beds.  These  are  succeeded  in  about  five  miles  by  a  rocky 
bluff  on  the  right  bank,  called  Makassa-usa,  or  White-earth 
bluff,  about  seventy  yards  high.  On  reaching  the  top  of  this 
bluff  a  curious  spectacle  presents  itself.  The  horizon  to  the 
east  is  bounded  by  a  belt  of  wood  about  four  miles  from  the 
river;  from  the  wood  an  elevated  terrace  extends  westward 
about  one  mile  of  smooth  prairie  land,  whilst  the  remaining 
sunken  portion  is  covered  with  tens  of  thousands  of  boulders 
of  limestone  and  granite,  some  of  them  standing  in  the  most 
grotesque  manner,  and  separated  from  each  other  as  the  wild 
buffalo  are  when  grazing;  indeed,  at  a  distance,  they  might 
very  well  be  taken  for  them.  Some  of  the  boulders  weigh, 
I  should  think,  one  hundred  tons.  To  the  south  is  prairie 
land,  at  a  much  lower  level,  with  a  lake  ;  whilst  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  nothing  can  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  wooded 
slopes,  with  a  continuous  smooth  prairie  beyond  them.  These 
are  amongst  the  interesting  proofs  of  the  retreat  of  the  waters 
in  ancient  times,  and  of  their  power  to  break  up  even  the 
beds  of  the  primary  rocks.  Beyond  this  point  an  island  is 
passed  about  four  hundred  yards  long,  the  largest  yet  met 
with.  The  current  is  now  very  strong  for  some  distance,  and 
from  the  continuation  of  bold  bluffs,  many  of  them  with  boul- 
ders on  their  sides,  it  is  evident  the  river  has  worked  its  way 
through  a  ridge  here.  Chaneaska,  or  Fort  river,  has  received 

*  Mr.  Keating  supposes  the  locality  to  have  received  the  name  of  the  Cres- 
cent, "from  a  beautiful  bend  which  the  river  makes."  Keating's  Narrative, 
&c.  Vol.  1,  p.  337. 


142  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

its  name  from  a  strong  hold  which  the  Nacotahs  had  on  the 
heights  near  it,  during  their  wars  with  the  Ha-hah-tona,  or 
People  of  the  Falls,  the  name  they  give  to  the  Chippewas. 
About  sixteen  miles  beyond  this  point,  the  bluffs  on  the  left 
bank  are  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high ;  and  here, 
after  a  very  severe  struggle  with  the  current,  we  got  the  canoe 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Makato  Watapah,  or  Blue-earth  river, 
the  principal  tributary  of  the  Minnay  Sotor.  This  is  a  bold 
stream,  eighty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth;  and  the  St.  Peter's, 
whose  general  course  from  its  sources  having  hitherto  been 
about  northwest,  now  joined  by  the  Makato,  forces  its  way 
through  the  lowest  part  of  the  ridge,  and  gains  the  Mississippi 
in  a  course  nearly  northeast. 

Having  reached  the  Makato,  it  became  my  duty  to  enter  it. 
Expectations  had  been  raised  by  the  publication  of  Major 
Long's*  expedition,  respecting  some  supposed  copper  mines 
which  M.  Le  Sueur  wras  said  to  have  discovered  about  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  not  far  from  its  mouth, 
and  which  Major  Long,  in  passing  up  the  St.  Peter's,  had  not 
visited.  The  following  passage,!  witn  others,  in  the  publica- 
tion in  question,  gave  so  much  importance  to  the  affair,  that 
it  was  deemed  proper  to  make  an  investigation  of  the  locality 
part  of  my  instructions  : 

"  Charlevoix  states  that  Le  Sueur  was  sent  by  M.  D'lber- 
ville  to  make  an  establishment  in  the  Sioux  country,  and  to 
take  possession  of  a  copper  mine  Le  Sueur  had  there  dis- 
covered. He  ascended  the  St.  Peter's  40  leagues,  to  la  riviere 
Verte,  which  comes  in  on  the  left.  Though  only  the  last  of 
September,  the  ice  prevented  him  from  ascending  that  river 
more  than  a  league :  he  therefore  built  a  fort,  and  spent  the 
winter  at  that  spot.  In  April,  1702,  he  went  up  the  riviere 
Verte  to  the  mine,  which  was  only  three-quarters  of  a  league 

*  Narrative  of  an   expedition  to  the  sources  of  St.  Peter's  river,  &c. ;  2  vols. 
Svo.     By  William  H.  Keating.     Philadelphia,  1824. 

t  Vol.  1,  p.  31 6. 


Feather stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  143 

above  his  winter  establishment.  In  twenty-two  days  they  got 
out  more  than  thirty  thousand  pounds  of  ore,  of  which  four 
thousand  pounds  were  selected  and  sent  to  France.  The 
mine  was  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  ten  leagues  long,  that 
seemed  to  be  composed  of  the  same  substance.  After  remo- 
ving a  black  burnt  crust  as  hard  as  rock,  the  copper  could  be 
scraped  with  a  knife."  A  manuscript  in  the  possession  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  written  by  M.  Benard  de  la 
Harpe,  is  also  cited:*'  "  It  appears  from  this  manuscript  that 
Le  Sueur's  discoveries  of  blue  earth  were  made  in  1695,  but 
that  all  further  operations  were  interrupted  until  1700.  We 
find  in  the  same  manuscript,  under  the  date  of  the  10th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1702,  that  Le  Sueur  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi that  day  with  two  thousand  quintals  of  blue  and  green 
earth."  The  same  manuscript  is  also  said,  in  giving  the 
details  of  Le  Sueur's  progress  up  the  Mississippi,  to  state  : 
"Finally,  on  the  19th  of  September,  he  left  the  Mississippi, 
and  entered  the  St.  Peter's  river,  which  comes  in  from  the 
west  bank.  By  the  1st  of  October  he  had  ascended  this  river 
forty-four  and  a  quarter  leagues,  when  he  entered  the  Blue 
river,  the  name  of  which  is  derived  from  the  blue  earth  found 
on  its  banks."  "  On  the  26th  M.  Le  Sueur  went  to  the  mine 
with  three  canoes,  which  he  loaded  with  green  and  blue  earth. 
It  was  taken  from  mountains  near  which  are  very  abundant 
mines  of  copper,  of  which  an  assay  was  made  in  Paris  by  M. 
L'Huillier,  in  the  year  1696." 

I  had,  through  my  guide,  (Milor, )  neglected  no  opportunity 
to  inquire  amongst  the  Nacotahs  respecting  these  mines,  but 
I  never  could  obtain  any  information,  or  even  a  traditional 
report,  of  any  thing  like  a  copper  mine  in  that  region.  Many 
of  the  chiefs  concurred  in  saying  that  there  were  some  bluffs 
a  few  miles  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's,  to  which  the 
Indians  had,  at  all  times,  resorted  to  procure  a  blue  earth  with 
which  they  were  accustomed  to  paint  themselves ;  and  one 
old  chief  had  described  the  locality  with  great  precision.  He 

*  Keating,  vol.  1,  p.  319. 


144  Feather  stonhaugWs  Geological  Report. 

was  very  well  acquainted  with  the  whole  country  between 
the  St.  Peter's  and  the  Missouri,  and  had  often  crossed  the 
Coteau  de  Prairie,  but  he  had  never  heard  of  or  seen  any- 
thing like  copper.     This,  however,  was  not  particularly  dis- 
couraging, as  Le  Sueur^s  mineral  was  described  as  being  a 
green  and  blue  earth  ;  and  it  might  very  well  be  an  oxyde  or 
carbonate  in  the  carboniferous  limestone,  as  it  is  found  in  the 
Wisconsin  Territory.     I  therefore  entered   the  Makato  with 
some  confidence.     Its  waters  were  extremely  discolored,  and 
I  immediately  saw  they  were  the  cause  of  the  turbid  state  of 
those  of  the  St.  Peter's.     When  we  had  proceeded  about  a 
mile,  we  found  a  family  of  Nacotahs,  of  the  Sissiton  tribe,  en- 
camped on  a  sand-bar,  taking  care  of  some  venison  they  had 
just  killed.     The  locality  I  was  in  search  of  was  well  known 
to  them,  and  they  gave  us  very  intelligible  directions.     The 
current  was  exceedingly  strong,  running  about  two  miles  an 
hour,  and  the  stream  appeared  to  furnish  about  one-half  the 
volume  of  the  St.  Peter's.     About  three  miles  from  the  en- 
trance of  the  river  there  is  a  singular  conical  hill  covered  with 
grass  on  the  right  bank,  which  I  thought  a  very  probable  sit- 
uation for  M.  Le  Sueur's  Fort  L'Huillier,  and  I  should  have 
landed  to  examine  it  but  for  my  anxiety  to  reach  the  blue- 
earth  locality,  and  on  account  of  the  weather,  the  snow  falling 
as  we  passed  it,  (September  22.).     Near  six  miles  from  the 
mouth,  a  fork  of  the  river  came  in  from  the  left  bank,  about 
forty-five  yards  wide,  on  the  right  bank  of  which  is  a  ridge  of 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  wride,  very  well  wooded,  and 
fronting  a  prairie  on  the  opposite  side.     We  found  very  little 
current,  the  main  stream  having  forced  it  back  for  some  dis- 
tance.    About  two  miles  up  this  fork,  we  at  length  came  to  a 
bluff',  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  on  the  left  bank, 
containing  the  blue-earth  locality.     On  climbing  it,  I  found 
the  same  horizontal  sandstone  and  siliceous  sandstone  common 
to  the  whole  country.     Towards  the  top  was  a  broad  seam  of 
bluish  clay,  intermixed  in  places  with  silicate  of  iron,  being  a 


Feather  stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  145 

continuation  of  the  deposite  I  had  seen  before  at  Myakah,  and 
valuable  only  for  the  savages  to  paint  themselves  with.  From 
this  bluff,  I  advanced  in  a  westerly  direction  about  two  miles, 
over  a  part  of  the  country  grown  up  with  small  poplars,  ha- 
zels, wild  roses,  and  grass,  in  the  hope  of  seeing  the  Coteau 
de  Prairie,  and  making  arrangements  to  proceed  to  it  from 
this  quarter ;  but  I  saw  nothing  of  the  kind  from  any  eminence 
which  I  could  gain  ;  and  having  in  my  hand,  and  reading  on 
the  spot,  what  had  been  said  of  M.  Le  Sueur,  his  mountains, 
and  his  copper  mines,  I  found  myself  obliged  to  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  these  discoveries  were  fables  invented  to  give 
him  influence  at  the  court  of  France.  Before  I  left  the  north- 
west country,  and  after  I  had  visited  the  Coteau  de  Prairie, 
I  found  it  was  distant  at  least  sixty  miles  from  this  spot,  which 
leaves  only  the  bluffs  of  the  river  to  represent  the  mountains 
spoken  of  in  the  manuscript  of  La  Harpe. 

Seeing  the  state  of  the  country  here,  and  having  made  up 
my  mind  to  proceed  up  the  St.  Peter's  to  its  source,  and 
strike  the  Coteau  de  Prairie  there,  if  the  season  admitted  of 
it,  I  descended  the  Makato,  which  the  natives  informed  me 
had  eleven  forks  and  was  full  of  rapids,  and  regained  the  St. 
Peter's.  The  water  above  the  junction  was  very  clear,  and 
had  but  little  current  for  several  miles,  being  somewhat  kept 
back  by  the  Makato ;  the  stream  is  about  one  hundred  yards 
broad,  and  runs  for  some  distance  through  low.  well-wooded 
banks,  forming  a  very  pleasing  country.  About  twelve  miles 
up  the  river,  the  slopes  are  covered  with  large  boulders,  near 
which  the  river  narrows  to  about  fifty  yards,  and  gradually 
becomes  shallow,  its  sandy  bed  being  covered  with  very 
beautiful  unios  of  various  species,  the  beaks  of  which  were 
not  at  all  decorticated.  Twenty  miles  from  the  Makato,  the 
St.  Peter's  has  made  a  recent  cut-off  and  abandoned  its  old 
bed  ;  not  far  from  this  place  a  large  mass  of  sandstone  is  in 
place  in  the  middle  of  the  river.  Minday  Maha-tanka,  or 
Great-goose  (Swan)  lake,  lies  nearly  five  miles  north  of  this 
10 


146  Feather  slonhaugVs  Geological  Report. 

point.  Further  on,  the  banks  of  the  river  consist  of  about 
twenty  feet  of  alluvial  sandy  loam,  containing  great  quantities 
of  planorbis,  anculotus,  and  helices,  to  the  bottom,  of  the  same 
species  now  found.*  About  twenty-five  miles  from  the  Ma- 
kato  some  red-earth  bluffs  occur  on  the  left  bank,  with  nume- 
rous boulders ;  from  this  point  the  general  appearance  of  the 
soil  and  country  begins  to  vary  and  announces  a  change  in  the 
formations,  and  five  miles  further  some  rocky  bluffs  come  in 
at  the  left  bank,  the  lower  beds  of  which  are  a  brick-red 
color  and  of  a  fine  grain.  On  landing  and  leaving  the  bank, 
I  found  the  country  covered  with  beds  of  red  gritstone,  of  a 
very  hard  quality,  inclined  about  fifteen  degrees.  These  rocks 
are  full  of  pot-holes,  some  of  them  a  foot  in  diameter  and  eight 
inches  deep,  and  are  as  smooth  as  metal.  The  carboniferous 
limestone  formation  seems  to  terminate  here,  and  to  be  stopped 
by  a  conglomerate  resembling  in  its  mineralogical  characters 
the  upper  beds  of  the  old  red  sandstone.  The  river  has  in 
old  times  passed  over  these  rocks,  worn  the  pot-holes,  and 
made  them  so  glassy  smooth.  The  Warhajoo,  called  by  the 
voyageurs  riviere  aux  Liards,  or  Cotton-wood  river,  comes  in 
from  the  right  bank,  at  a  short  distance  beyond  this  point ; 
we  turned  the  canoe  into  it  for  awhile,  but  were  obliged  to 
return  on  account  of  the  shallowness  of  the  water.  Our  dis- 
tance by  computation  from  the  mouth  ot  the  St.  Peter's  at  this 
place,  was  two  hundred  miles,  estimated  by  the  windings  of 
the  river,  and  we  had  more  than  three  hundred  yet  to  accom- 
plish before  we  could  reach  the  sources  of  the  St.  Peter's. 
There  is  a  village  of  Sissiton  Indians  a  little  west  of  the 
Warhajoo.  Five  miles  from  this  last  stream,  the  St.  Peter's 
winds,  in  a  very  curious  manner,  through  rich  alluvial  bot- 
toms, covered  with  sugar-maple  trees  :  it  goes  round  a  tongue 
of  land,  at  one  place,  the  distance  of  one  mile  and  five- 
sixths,  which  is  only  twenty  yards  across  at  the  base.  It  is 

*The  alluvial  banks  of  the  Mississippi  at  Gtuincy  are  in  like  manner  filled 
with  these  univalves;  these  deposites  being  thp  old  beds  of  streams,  like  those  be- 
fore mentioned  at  Fort  Gratiot. 


Feathers tonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  147 

called  Eepah-haska,  or  Long  point,  by  the  Nacotahs.     There 
is  another,  a   little  higher  up,  of  a  similar  kind  :  the  river 
here  is  about  one  hundred  and  ten   yards  broad,  varying  in 
width,  and  gliding  sometimes  on  one  bank,  sometimes  on  the 
other,  in  a  serpentine  course,  through  a  valley  of  rich,  black, 
sandy  loam,  about  one  and  a  half  mile    wide  between  the 
bluffs.     The  zizania  is  frequently  abundant  about  here.    The 
guide  pointed  out  to  me,  on  the  right  bank,  the  place  where, 
in   1811,  he  had  buried  his  employer,   a  trader  of  the  name 
of  Cameron,  who,  like   many  others  of  his  vocation,  go  on 
struggling  for  wealth,  and  die  unnoticed  in  the  woods.   About 
forty    miles   from  the    Warhajoo,    I  for  the    first   time    came 
upon  a  mass  of  granite  in  place,  the  river  narrowing  to  about 
fifty  yards.    The  voyageurs  call  this  Petit  Rocher.    Further  on 
there    are    large    granite   rocks  in   the    river.     Mr.    Moore's 
trading-house  is   in    this   vicinity,  on  the    right  bank.     The 
granite   henceforward  is  of  constant  occurrence,  nor  was  any 
other  kind  of  rock  seen  in  place  during  my  further  progress 
to  the   northwest.     From  hence  to  a  stream   coming  in  from 
the    left   bank,   called    by    the     Nacotahs    Weetah-chantah- 
eahantah,  or  Island  of  dead  wood  that  falls  in  the  lake,  and  by 
the  traders  Beaver  river,   is  a  succession  of  rapids,  masses  of 
granite,  and  shallow  water,  often  not  more  than  one  foot  deep 
on  the  sand.     Beyond  this  point,  on  the  right  bank,  are  huge 
out-liers  of   granite  for  many  miles  on  the  prairie  bottoms. 
The  Chanshyapay,  or  Red-wood  river,  comes  in  a  little  further 
on,  taking  its  name  from  a  tree  painted  red  by  the  savages. 
The  St.  Peter's  is  much  obstructed  by  rocks  and  rapids  before 
reaching  this  stream,  but  is  wide  and  shallow  after  passing  it. 
The  voyageurs  call  it  forty  leagues,  or  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles,  from   the  Warhajoo  to  Chanshyapay.     Twelve  miles 
further  to  the  west,  anout-lier  of  granite,  of  great  dimensions, 
stands  alone  on  the  right  bank ;  and  about  eight  miles  further, 
there  is  a  fine  stretch  of  granite  rocks,  on  the  right  bank,  about 
fifty  feet  high   and  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long.     The 
*JO 


148  Feather  stonhaugJi's  Geological  Report. 

interrupted  state  of  these  masses,  and  the  numerous  boulders 
found  east  of  this  formation,  show  the  nature  of  the  force  re- 
quired to  tear  up  these  unstratified  masses  from  the  valley, 
and  transport  them  to  so  great  a  distance.  The  sandy  bed  of 
the  river  about  here  was  covered  with  living  unios.  At  one 
point,  called  by  the  Nacotahs  Hahhah,  or  the  Cascade,  the 
granite  stretched  almost  across  the  river,  and  made  a  fall  suf- 
ficient to  oblige  us  to  unlade  the  canoe.  The  fall  here  throws 
an  eddy  on  the  right  bank,  which  has  worn  out  a  basin  about 
fifty  yards  by  forty,  and  a  broad  ledge  of  granite  is  formed, 
about  one  hundred  yards  long  and  twenty  wide,  sloping  to  the 
southeast.  The  bed  of  the  river  is  thus  restricted  to  a  passage 
of  about  thirty-five  yards  wide.  South  of  this  are  numerous 
rugged  granite  hills.  In  this  granitic  country  the  bends  of 
the  river  become  short,  the  water  being  turned  away  by  the 
rocks.  Three  or  four  miles  beyond  this  point  the  river  is 
almost  choked  up  with  masses  of  granite,  at  a  place  called 
Patterson's  rapids,  from  a  trader  of  that  name  who  once  win- 
tered there.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  rapid  at  all;  the  progress 
however  becomes  difficult,  and  much  care  is  required  in  get- 
ting a  birch-bark  canoe  through  this  part  of  the  river.  I  had 
come  about  one  thousand  miles  in  mine,  and  it  had  hitherto 
required  very  little  repairs.  An  accident  would  have  been  a 
serious  embarrassment,  as  there  is  no  birch  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  and  the  Nacotahs  do  not,  like  the  Chippeways,  use 
canoes  made  of  its  bark. 

Beyond  Patterson's  rapids  the  prairie-grounds  come  down 
to  the  banks  of  the  river  without  a  tree.  There  may  be  said 
to  be  two  kinds  of  prairie :  the  alluvial  bottom,  a  rich  black 
soil,  with  wild  grass  from  four  to  six  feet  high,  sometimes  a 
mile  in  breadth,  and  thrown  up  into  innumerable  small  hil- 
locks by  the  moles  of  the  country  ;  and  then  the  upland  prairie, 
forming  the  common  table-land  of  the  region,  less  rich  than  the 
other,  but  good  soil,  generally  with  low  coarse  grass,  and  the 
horizon  uninterrupted  by  a  tree.  On  the  upland  prairies  here, 


Feather -stonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  149 

I  began  to  find  calcareous  boulders,  formed  of  flat  laminae  of 
salmon-colored  limestones,  with  impressions  of  producta  and 
spirifers,  from  which  1  concluded  myself  to  be  upon  the  south- 
ern edge  of  the  granite  coming  in  from  the  north,  and  that  I 
might  probably  come  upon  the  limestone  again,  if  I  should  get 
far  enough  to  the  west. 

The  river  now  narrowed  again  to  about  seventy  yards,  and 
became  so  shallow  that  we  were  in  constant  expectation  of 
being  obliged  to  stop,  notwithstanding  I  had  made  caches  of 
our  heaviest  articles,  by  burying  them  in  the  ground.  The 
daily  fall  of  the  water,  too,  created  apprehensions  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  we  should  be  able  to  accomplish  our  return. 
After  walking  through  the  brakes  for  some  time,  I  came  to  a 
small  stream  on  the  left  bank,  called  Chahtahnboah,  or  Spar- 
rowhawk  river,  which  the  voyageurs,  for  some  idle  reason, 
have  named  Eau  de  Vie.  Nearly  opposite  to  this  the  Pahjeetah 
Zeezeehah,  or  Yellow  Medicine  river,  joins  the  St.  Peter's,  its 
mouth  almost  choked  up  with  wild  rice.  The  main  river 
now  becomes  about  eighty  yards  wide  again,  the  banks  low, 
with  great  quantities  of  zizania ;  the  slopes  of  the  upland 
prairie  on  the  right  bank  are  well  wooded  ;  and  a  very  good 
channel,  from  five  to  eight  feet  deep.  At  the  termination  of 
this  channel  there  is  another  hahhah,  or  fall,  with  a  rapid 
about  one  hundred  yards  long,  through  which  the  canoe  had 
to  be  dragged  by  the  men  up  to  their  waists  in  water.  From 
here  to  the  Grand  Portage  there  is  a  succession  of  rapids.  At 
this  point  the  river  makes  a  detour  of  three  miles,  the  whole 
distance  being  one  continued  rapid,  through  which  the  canoe 
had  to  be  dragged.  The  portage  is  one  mile  and  three-quar- 
ters across,  by  land,  and  it  was  here  the  singularly-laminated 
rock  occurred,  which  is  spoken  of  at  page  27,  and  which  re- 
sembles granite  in  every  particular  except  its  stratification. 
The  strike  or  direction  of  Ihese  masses  is  N.  E.  by  E.  and  S. 
W.  by  W.,  dipping  S.  E.,  and  I  of  course  crossed  their  whole 
breadth  at  right  angles,  After  passing  the  portage  and  re- 


150  Feather stonhavgh's  Geological  Report. 

embarking,  four  other  rapids  occur,  three  of  them  near  to  each 
other,  and  the  fourth  about  a  mile  distant.  The  river  soon 
re-assumes  its  ancient  breadth  of  one  hundred  yards,  and 
winds  through  an  extensive  meadow  edged  with  zizania.  The 
otters  were  swimming  about  in  numbers  among  the  wild  rice, 
and  the  water  was  almost  covered  with  wild  ducks  and  teaL 
The  muskrats  had  already  begun  to  build  their  tall  conical 
houses  in  the  \vater,  formed  of  the  straw  of  the  zizania.  Be- 
yond this  we  passed  abroad  coulee,  made  by  an  immense  herd 
of  buffaloes,  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  in  number,  which  had 
crossed  the  river  here.  The  channel  now  becomes  contracted 
and  rocky  again,  a  stream  called  Mea-wakon  (by  the  traders 
Chippeway  river)  comes  in  from  the  lefts  about  fifty  feet  wide 
at  its  mouth,  soon  after  which  the  St.  Peter's  narrows  to  thirty- 
five  yards.  Here  the  prairies  were  on  fire,  and  further  on 
were  burnt  quite  black  down  to  the  water's  edge.  The  valley 
still  continues  about  two  miles  broad,  and  the  bends  of  the 
river  are  so  numerous  that  I  could  see  it  in  six  different  places 
from  the  slope  of  the  upland  prairie.  These  bends  would  be 
sometimes  fifteen  hundred  yards  round,  and  only  sixty  at  the 
base.  The  river  at  length  became  very  narrow,  and  so  blocked 
up  with  fallen  trees,  that  we  were  often  delayed  by  being, 
obliged  to  stop  and  cut  our  way  through.  The  last  stream 
which  falls  into  the  St.  Peter's  south  of  Lac  qui  parle,  and 
which  comes  from  the  right  bank,  is  called  Chan-ikpah-watapah, 
or  the  last  wooded  river.  At  Lac  qui  parle  there  is  a  stock- 
aded trading-house  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  the  resi- 
dence of  Reinville,  one  of  the  partners,  an  intelligent  man? 
possessing  a  great  deal  of  influence  with  the  Naeotah  tribes, 
having  been  brought  up  amongst  them.  The  post  is  about  a 
mile  east  of  the  lake,  and  is  the  rendezvous  of  great  numbers 
of  the  natives.  The  voyageurs  estimate  the  distance  from  the 
Warhajoo  to  the  lake  at  eighty  leagues,  and  as  this  estimate  is 
the  result  of  great  experience,  it  is  probably  more  accurate 
than  any  one  that  can  be  made  by  a  traveller,  whose  progress 


Featherstonhaugh^s  Geological  Report.  151 

is  necessarily  so  irregularly  conducted  during  a  single  expe- 
dition. Mr.  Reinville  informed  me  that  the  lake  takes  its 
name  from  a  tradition  that  it  had  once  spoken  to  a  Nacotah 
chief  when  crossing  it.  The  valley  here  is  of  the  usual 
breadth,  bounded  by  the  upland  prairies,  and  the  lake  is  but 
a  prolongation  of  it.  The  river  dwindles  into  a  mere  half- 
choked-up  channel  at  low  stages  of  the  water.  The  country 
around  continues  to  be  very  fertile,  the  potatoes  at  the  post 
are  of  a  superior  kind,  dry  and  large,  and  the  corn  ripens 
well,  so  that  the  country  is  sure,  some  day  or  other,  to  have  a 
full  population. 

Here  I  deposited  my  canoe,  finding  it  delayed  our  progress, 
and  took  to  the  land,  coasting  Lac  qui  parle  on  the  northeast 
side,  which  is  nine  miles  long,  to  the  Wahboptah  or  Prairie- 
root  river,  where  the  natives  dig  a  sort  of  ground-nut  they  are 
attached  to.  This  stream,  which  has  some  trees  on  its  banks, 
is  about  thirty  feet  wide,  and  is  estimated  to  be  about  five 
leagues  from  the  post.  From  hence  I  advanced  across  the  Bald 
prairie  about  seven  leagues,  one-half  of  which  was  quite  black 
with  the  extinct  fires.  During  the  march 'there  was  no  pro- 
tection against  the  piercing  northeast  wind,  full  of  humidity. 
The  whole  distance  was  strewed  with  boulders  of  granite 
rocks,  flat  pieces  of  yellowish  limestone,  with  impressions  of 
encrinites  and  other  fossils  of  the  carboniferous  limestone,  and 
skeletons  and  detached  bones  of  the  buffalo.  No  rock  in 
place  was  seen  of  any  description  whatever.  Numerous  small 
stagnant  pools  of  water  occurred,  but  none  that  could  be  drunk. 
On  reaching,  at  sunset,  after  making  painful  efforts  to  do  so, 
the  only  trees,  at  a  place  called  Grosses  isles,  where  ma- 
terials were  to  be  had  to  make  a  fire  for  the  night,  we  were 
so  sick  at  the  stomach,  from  cold  and  inanition,  that  it  was  with 
much  difficulty  we  succeeded  in  'producing  a  light,  and  then 
we  had  to  boil,  skim,  and  strain  the  stagnant  water,  before  we 
could  use  it.  The  succeeding  day  we  had  to  march  eighteen 
miles  during  the  most  severe  weather,  to  a  place  where  some 


162  Feather  stonhaugh's   Geological  Report. 

bushes  grew,  but  without  trees.     On  approaching  it  within  A 
mile,  it  looked    like   a  pond  of  bright   water;  innumerable 
quantities  of  wild  geese,  and  large  white  ducks  with  black- 
tipped  wingS)  were  hovering  about  it.     When  we  reached  the 
place  we  found  it  was  a  dried-up  pond  without  a  drop  of  water, 
the  surface  being  covered  with  a  white  pellicle  of  carbonate 
of  lime.     It  was  from  the  neighborhood  of  this  place  I  first 
saw  the   Coteau  de  Prairie  stretching  up  and  down  S.  S.  E. 
and  N.  N.  W.     There  was  a  great  abundance  of  planorbis  and 
lymnea  here,  larger  than  any  I  had  seen  before.    The  Coteau 
appears  to  have   its  name  very  appropriately,   being  to  the 
prairie  that  sort  of  termination  to  the  horizon  which  a  coast  is 
to  the  sea.     After  another  inclement  march  the  joyful  sight  of 
a  few  scattered  trees  presented  itself,  and  descending  the  up- 
land praiiie,  I  reached  the  last  trading- post  of  the  American 
Fur  Company  in  this  quarter,  on  the  east  side  of  Lac  Travers. 
This  body  of  water,  so  called  from  its  running  a  trovers,  or 
at   right   angles   from   the  course  of  the  adjoining  lakes,    is 
about  twenty  miles  long,  and  runs  N.  E.  by  N.,  by  compass. 
The  wraters  were  turbid,  having  no  outlet  in  the  dry  part  of 
the  season,  and  were  at  this  time,  from  continued  evaporation, 
not  very  palatable.     At  other  times  of  the  year  it  discharges 
its  water  in  a  northerly  direction,  into  Red  river  of  Lake 
Winnipeg,  and  during  the  greatest  freshes  it  overflows  the 
valley  which  separates  it  from   Lake  Eatatenka,  at  its  south 
end.     The  greater  part  of  the  boulders  in  this  neighborhood 
are  flat  pieces  of  limestone,  but   I   never  could   find  any  in 
place.     The  sandy  loam  of  the  prairies  is  about  one  hundred 
feet  deep,  judging  from  the  water-level,  and  effectually  con- 
ceals the  rock  formation  below.     From  this  place  I  proceeded 
to  the  Coteau  de  Prairie,  keeping  down  the  southeast  side  of 
the  lake,  and  crossing  a  valley  about  one   mile  broad,  which 
separates  the  lakes,  the  north  end  of  Minday  Eatakenka,  or 
Big-stone  lake,  as  it  is  vulgarly  called,  being  two  miles  from 
Lake  Travers.     Having  regained  the  upland  prairie  to  the 


Feather  atonhaugh's  Geological  Report.  153 

northwest,  where  there  are  some  large  mounds,  and  following 
the  northwest  branch  of  the  St.  Peter's,  (now  an  inconsiderable 
rivulet,  running  in  a  very  deep  ravine,  and  often  not  more 
than  six  feet  across,  but  very  pure  water,)  I  came  quite  in 
front  of  the  Coteau  de  Prairie,  separated  from  it  only  three 
or  four  miles,  covered  by  a  vast  number  of  sand-hills. 

In  this  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory  it  is  very  seldom  that 
trees  are  found  where  there  is  no  water.  The  first  care  of 
the  traveller,  in  a  region  where  there  is  nobody  to  assist  him, 
is  self-preservation ;  his  principal  attention,  therefore,  is  di- 
rected to  trees,  especially  at  the  setting  in  of  winter;  without 
fuel  he  would  be  frozen  to  death  in  the  night,  and  fortunately 
where  there  is  fuel  there  is  also  water,  unless  it  has  been  ab- 
sorbed. The  course  of  the  small  streams  which  form  the  prin- 
cipal sources  of  the  St.  Peter's,  is  along  the  wooded  lines  on 
the  flanks  of  Chhray-tanka,or  the  Great  Hills,  the  name  given 
by  the  Nacotahs  to  the  Coteau.  This  word  is  pronounced 
very  guttural  and  rapid.  Wherever  those  dark  spots  and  lines 
were  seen  on  its  side,  water  was  generally  found.  On  these 
extensive  plains  objects  are  deceptive,  from  there  being  noth- 
ing to  compare  with  them.  An  eminence  at  a  distance  will  ap- 
pear two  hundred  feet  high,  which,  when  reached,  will  not  be 
fifty.  A  prairie-wolf  looks,  when  running,  like  a  deer;  a  small 
rock  like  a  buffalo.  I  have  seen  an  antelope  rear  up  on  its  hind 
legs,  as  they  alwa}'s  do  to  look  at  objects,  and  could  have 
thought  it  a  camelopard.  At  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles  the 
Coteau  looked  like  a  lofty  chain.  Mr.  Keating  assigned  to  it 
a  height  of  one  thousand  feet.*  The  illusion  was  dispelled 
as  soon  as  I  came  near  it.  The  ascent  is  so  gentle  at  the 
place  where  I  began  to  ascend,  that  I  was  hardly  aware  I  was 
going  up  hill.  The  ascent  perhaps  continues  two  and  a  half 
miles,  and  is  not  more  than  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  to  the  mile.  1  do  not  suppose  the  Coteau  to  rise 
more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the 

*  Vol.  1,  page  360. 


154  Feather 'stonhaugVs   Geological  Report. 

upland  prairie.  The  Coteau  itself  is  another  upland  prairie, 
somewhat  more  diversified  than  that  I  had  left  behind,  having 
numerous  small  wooded  lakes  on  its  surface,  which  have  a 
very  picturesque  appearance.  From  the  plateau  here  there 
is  a  very  extensive  view  of  the,  prairies  below,  with  the  lakes. 
The  prairies  in  every  direction  are  bounded  only  by  the  hori- 
zon ;  a  few  occasional  trees  indicate  stagnant  water.  It  is  two 
good  days'  march  from  hence  to  the  river  Shyan,  and  eight  fur- 
ther to  Pembina,  on  Ked  river  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  the  whole 
of  it  over  a  prairie  country  wTith  many  small  lakes  and  occa- 
sional wood.  The  Nid  de  Tonnerre,  or  Nest  of  Thunder,  a 
name  derived  from  some  Indian  tradition,  comprehends  a  small 
tract  of  country  with  a  very  irregular  surface,  where  knolls, 
depressions,  and  small  wooded  lakes  prevail.  The  sand-hills 
I  have  before  spoken  of  as  lying  in  front  of  the  Coteau  de 
Prairie,  extend  into  this  vicinity,  and  still  farther  to  the  north- 
west. Farther  to  the  northwest  are  several  saline  lakes,  one 
of  which,  named  Saline  lake  on  the  map,  is  about  ten  miles 
long.  On  the  shores  of  these  lakes  crystallized  salt  is  found 
in  dry  seasons,  when  the  surface  has  been  much  evaporated ; 
muriate  of  lime  appears  to  be  mixed  with  it.  As  there  is  no 
rock  in  place  around  here,  conjectures  only  can  be  formed 
upon  the  nature  of  the  subjacent  beds.  About  thirty  miles 
from  Lake  Travers  the  Psee,  or  Wild-rice  river,  flows  east 
of  north  to  Red  river,  rising  principally  in  a  small  lake  at  the 
loot  of  the  Coteau.  From  this  stream  there  is  a  constant  line 
of  sand-hills  to  the  Shyan,  a  shallow  stream  about  thirty  yards 
wide,  with  plenty  of  wood.  The  buffalo  abound  about  here, 
but  seldom  come  much  farther  south.  For  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  miles  from  this  stream,  the  country  on  the  left  bank  is 
hilly  and  dry,  and  more  easily  travelled  over  than  on  the  op- 
posite bank,  which  is  much  cut  up  by  coulees.  Another  In- 
dian locality  now  presents  itself,  called  the  Grizzly  Bear's 
Den,  a  lofty  hill  on  the  south  side  of  the  Shyan.  From  this 
place  it  is  five  days'  march  to  Lac  du  Diable. 


Featherstonhaugh''s  Geological  Report.  155 

The  Coteau  de  Prairie,  about  which  very  little  has  been 
known,  is  a  very  broad  ridge  of  land  dividing  the  waters  tribu- 
tary to  the  Missouri  from  those  which  discharge  themselves  into 
the  St.  Peter's,  and  into  Red  river  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  Its  gen- 
eral direction  is  about  N.  N.  W.  and  S.  S.  E.,  though  in  places 
it  appears  to  be  irregular.  To  the  south  it  comes  down  to  the 
sources  of  the  Makato,  whilst  to  the  north  it  terminates  for  a 
while  near  the  sources  of  the  Psee,  when  a  flat  country  comes 
in,  intersected  by  the  Shyan  and  Goose  rivers.  Lac  du  Diable* 
is  in  this  area,  with  Turtle  river.  Here  the  Coteau  rises  again 
to  the  north,  but  is  called  the  Pembina  hills  by  the  traders; 
these  extend  beyond  the  Assinaboin  river,  and  die  away  about 
Flat  lake,  near  seventy  miles  from  Lake  Winnipeg. f  East  of 
the  Pembina  hills  there  are  salt-springs,  and  from  the  some- 
what vague  accounts  I  received  from  the  Indians,  there  is  coal 
in  their  vicinity .  A  very  respectable  trader  informed  me  he  had 
once  picked  up  some  bituminous  coal  on  the  shore  of  Lake 
Travers. 

Between  Lake  Travers  and  the  Missouri  there  are  four  of 
these  ridges  :  Coteau  de  Prairie,  on  the  surface  of  which  there 
is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  small  wooded  lakes,  with  immense 
quantities  of  muskrats,  and  which  extends  four  days'  easy 
march  to  a  valley  through  which  a  fine  stream  called  Chane- 
aska  or  White-wood  river  flows.  This  stream,  which  the 
voyageurs  have  named  riviere  au  Jacques,  rises  in  the  flat 
area  where  Lac  du  Diable  is ;  it  is  well  wooded,  and  joins  the 
Missouri  about  the  forty-third  degree.  The  next  parallel 
ridge  is  about  one  day's  march  to  riviere  aux  Ormes;  then 

*  The  Nacotahs  call  this  Lake  Minday  Wakon,  or  Great  Spirit's  lake;  but  as 
they  attach  a  supernatural  feeling  to  many  things  they  do  not  comprehend,  and 
apply  the  name  of  Wakon  even  to  a  powerful  magnet,  the  Canadian  voyageurs 
often  mistake  the  Indians,  and  in  this  instance  have  given  to  this  lake  the  now 
popular  name  of  the  Devil's  lake. 

1 1  have  thought  it  might  be  useful  to  give  geographical  notices  of  some  localities 
of  this  unfrequented  region  :  those  which  I  did  not  visit  myself  are  from  good 
authority. 


156  Feathastonhaugh's  Geological  Report. 

another  small  ridge  occurs,  with  a  stream  separating  it  from 
Minnay  Shoshoh-chhray,*  the  "high  hill  of  the  muddy  river," 
which  the  voyageurs  going  up  the  Missouri,  have  called  Coteau 
de  Missouri,  having  it  on  the  right.  The  distance  from  Lake 
Travers  to  the  Missouri,  across  this  part  of  the  country,  is 
equal  to  seven  days'  march,  and  the  Mandan  village,  in  47° 
30',  can  be  reached  in  the  same  time. 

Finding  the  whole  country  buried  up  in  sand  and  clay,  no 
rock  in  place  of  any  kind,  and  constantly  admonished  by  the 
approach  of  the  winter,  I  determined  to  return  by  the  south 
side  of  Minday  Eatatenka,  or  Big-stone  lake.  Descending 
the  Coteau,  I  had  a  weary  march  across  the  burnt  prairies, 
and  with  nothing  to  attract  attention  but  the  extreme  beauty  of 
the  mirage  and  the  distant  tops  of  a  few  trees,  I  reached 
Eatatenka,  an  extremely  beautiful  piece  of  water.  Where  I 
struck  the  lake  it  was  impossible  to  get  to  the  water's  edge,  on 
account  of  the  great  breadth  of  the  swampy  ground,  covered 
with  rushes  eight  feet  high.  From  the  high  land  there  was 
a  fine  view  of  the  lake,  curving  for  a  great  distance,  with  occa- 
sional bluffs  two  hundred  feet  high.  Near  its  banks  the  land 
is  of  the  finest  quality,  but  is  sometimes  intersected  by  cou- 
lees. I  went  down  one  of  them  towards  the  lake,  and  found 
it  terminate  in  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  very  rich 
land,  forming  a  singular  wilderness  of  trees  and  briers,  with  a 
stream  of  fine  water  flowing  through  it.  The  remains  of  a 
large  Indian  village  were  there,  and  on  rising  the  east  bank  of 
the  coulee  there  was  a  mound  which  overlooked  the  country. 
Towards  the  southeast  termination  there  is  a  fine  low  dry 
prairie,  and  a  good  beach,  which  enabled  me  to  get  some 
unios  and  anodontas.  Below  this  are  some  large  islands,  with 
Indian  villages.  The  lake,  which  is  generally  very  well 

*  It  is  extremely  probable  that  this  is  the  origin  of  the  word  Missouri*  The 
first  time  I  heard  a  Nacotah  pronounce  Minnay  Shoshoh-chhruy,  slurred  rapidly 
together,  as  is  their  way,  it  produced  just  such  a  sound  as  an  illiterate  voyageur 
would  convey  by  Mishouray. 


Feather  stonhaugJi's  Geological  Report.  157 

wooded,  terminates  in  a  low  marshy  piece  of  ground,  and  was 
here  covered  with  such  great  quantities  of  wild  fowl,  that  they 
made  a  noise  like  thunder  when  they  arose.  Its  extreme 
length  is  about  thirty-six  miles,  and  it  averages  about  one  mile 
and  three-quarters  in  width  ;  the  north  end  for  a  short  distance 
runs  north  and  south,  the  central  part  bears  nearly  east,  and 
at  the  other  end  it  inclines  to  the  southeast.  From  here  the 
distance  to  Lac  qui  parle  is  about  thirty  miles  by  the  St. 
Peter's,  which  is  only  navigable  when  the  waters  are  high  ; 
the  stream  was  very  small  when  I  crossed  it,  and  ran  through 
low  meadows  of  tall  wide  grass,  which  fill  this  continuation  of 
the  valley  between  Lac  qui  parle  and  Eatatenka.  Having 
crossed  the  valley  here,  I  found  myself  suddenly  amongst 
immense  masses  of  granite  in  place,  isolated  from  each  other, 
and  occupying  several  hundred  acres.  Some  of  these  masses 
are  twenty-five  feet  high,  they  extend  six  or  eight  miles  down 
the  valley,  and  give  its  name  of  Eatatenka,  or  Great  Rocks,  to 
the  lake.  On  the  south  side  of  this  valley,  not  far  from  the 
lake,  a  stream  comes  in  called  Zoozoo  Watapah,  or  Sandstone 
river  ;  it  rises  high  up  in  the  prairie,  and  is  a  large  stream  at 
some  seasons.  Lower  down  another  stream  comes  in  on  the 
same  side,  called  Chhray  Wakon  ;  this  also  rises  far  in  the 
Coteau,  and  takes  its  name  from  a  lofty  mound  near  which 
it  passes,  named  Chhray  Wakon,  from  a  miraculous  tradition 
which  the  Indians  have  preserved.  As  they  esteem  all  medi- 
cine to  be  miraculous,  the  voyageurs  frequently  translate  the 
word  wakon,  which  generally  means  something  supernatural, 
by  "  medicine."  Thus  the  French  have  called  this  stream 
riviere  de  la  Montagne  Medicine.  Advancing  to  the  southeast 
I  found  the  prairies  on  fire  in  every  direction,  and  having 
regained  the  canoe,  succeeded,  with  a  great  deal  of  exertion, 
in  descending  the  St.  Peter's  and  in  reaching  Fort  Snelling, 
which  place  I  left  with  two  feet  of  snow  on  the  ground,  and 
exceedingly  severe  weather. 


158  Feather  stonhavgWs  Geological  Report. 

Being  desirous  of  examining  the  country  from  Prairie  du 
Chien  to  the  mouth   of  the   Missouri,  more   in  detail  than  1 
should  have  been  able  to  do  if  I  had  taken  my  passage  in  the 
steamboat,  I  continued  on  to  Dubuque'sand  the  town  of  Galena 
in  my  canoe.     Sulphuret  of  lead  is  found   in  various  places 
between  Prairie  du  Chien  and  Cassville,  a  new  settlement  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi.     At  Dubuque's  lead  mines 
the  limestone  appears  identically  the  same  with  the  galenifer- 
ous  beds  of  Missouri.     The  fossils  also  are  the  characterstic 
fossils   of  the    carboniferous   limestone.     The   galena    itself, 
however,  differs  in  appearance  from  that  which  constitutes  the 
solid  and  brilliant  bands*  of  sulphuret  in  the  Missouri  mines. 
There,  although  it  has  an  evident  tendency  to  separate  into 
cubes,  the  lines  of  cleavage  are  generally  obliterated,  whilst 
here  the  sulphuret  consists  of  aggregates  of  perfect  cubes,  of  a 
very  dull  and  rubbly  appearance,  and  lying  in  loose  masses  in 
cavities  of  the  limestone  beds,  mixed  up  with  ochreous  earth. 
1  found  this  to  be  the  universal  state  of  the  metallic  beds  also 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi.     In  Missouri  the  veins  of 
galena  are  exceedingly  bright,  and  are  encased  in  wet,  waxy, 
red,  argillaceous  matter,  whilst  in  the  galeniferous  region  of 
this  part  of  the   country,  some  electric  action  seems  to  have 
dried  up  the  argillaceous  matter,  and   to  have  separated  the 
metal  into  cubes,  and  broken  it  up  into  masses.    In  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  town  of  Galena,  I  perceived   the  veins  went 
very  much  into  those  pockets  common  to  metallic  countries  ;f 
here  they  appear  to  prevail  through  extensive  areas  of  coun- 
try ;  shafts  are  sunk  to  great  depths  through  the  dry  red  earth, 
and  the  masses  of  cubical  sulphuret  are  always  found  in  the 
condition  I  have  described.     I  think  it  very  probable  that  the 
lead  formation  of  this  part  of  the  United  States  extends  to  the 
north  far  beyond  the  places  where  excavations  are  now  car- 
ried on,  but  the   activity,  perseverance,  and  great  respecta- 
bility as  to  character  and  resources  of  the  population  engaged 
in  the  lead  business  of  the  Galena  district,  will  in  time  lead 

*  Report  1835,  p.  48.  f  Report  1835,  p.  49. 


Feather stonhaitgh^s  Geological  Report.  159 

to  its  development  wherever  it  may  be.  When  the  present 
veins  are  exhausted,  shafts  will  be  sunk  still  deeper.  There  is 
in  fact  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  whole  distance  between 
the  lead  mines  of  Missouri  and  those  of  Dubuque's,  is  com- 
prehended in  the  galeniferous  formation.  At  Mineral  point, 
a  day's  ride  from  Galena,  there  are  also  copper  veins,  indica- 
tions of  which  I  saw  in  coming  down  the  Wisconsin.  The 
veins  are  nearly  vertical,  and  the  carbonate  produces  thirty- 
five  per  cent,  of  copper. 

The  Mississippi,  from  Fever  river,  continues  about  the  usual 
breadth,  but  has  comparatively  few  islands  in  it ;  the  country 
is  exceedingly  beautiful,  the  banks  abounding  in  gentle  slopes, 
with  scattering  trees  and  occasional  escarpments.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Rock  river  bituminous  coal  is  found  in  many  places, 
lying  in  the  beds  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  on  both  sides 
of  the  Mississippi,  like  those  previously  described  in  the  State 
of  Illinois.  At  the  foot  of  the  Des  Moine  rapids,  near  the  place 
called  Keokuk,  the  beds  of  carboniferous  limestone  are  full  of 
siliceous  geodes,  some  of  them  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  of  great 
beauty  and  variety.  In  some  instances  I  found  the  geodes 
containing  accidental  minerals  ;  pearl  spar  covering  the  faces 
and  terminations  of  the  quartz  crystals,  and  this  again  sprinkled 
over  with  a  profusion  of  minute  cubes  of  sulphuret  of  lead. 
Continuing  down  the  Mississippi,  along  the  bluff  of  the  carbo- 
niferous limestone,  and  passing  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  I 
reached  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri. 

From  this  place  the  geology  of  the  country  south  to  Red 
river,  and  southeast  to  the  Atlantic,  has  been  already  sketched 
out  it  my  report  of  1835. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain, 

Very  respectfully,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
G.  W.  FEATHERSTONHAUGH, 

U.  S.    Geologist. 


160 


REFERENCES  FOR  THE  DIAGRAMS, 


No. 

Plate. 

Page. 

1 

1    ^'L' 

17 

2 

1 

40 

3 

1 

41 

4 

I 

41 

5 

1 

42 

6 

1 

67 

7 

1 

67 

8 

2 

71 

9    pjgfCi 

2 

87 

10 

2 

101 

11 

2 

101 

12 

2 

101 

13 

2 

104 

14 

3 

106 

15 

3    .  f-,;< 

108 

16 

3 

125 

17    w**H* 

_ 

133 

18  Section  from  Georgetown,  D.  C.  to  Green  Bay. 

19  Section  f'roun  Green  Bay  to  Prairie  du  Chien. 

20  Section  from  Prairie  du  Chien  to  Coteau  de  Prairie. 


Level*  of  Will's   Creek 


(^  Gneiss  nufacemm  slates  AY; 

Jj 

(  X  Calcareous  turn-ia  H'rnl  shalr 

Contorted  Mates* SandstfiM 
_ Curi-ed  lAmestmes 

Shales,  Sandstonrsand 

ridges 


TST?  19 

Sec.ircm  Green  Bay  &  Prairie  dt  Chi™  WSW.  EMK. 


'Wild  Rice. 
Marshes 


WOdRicf 
fclfarybts 


1ST  920 

Section  from  Praine  de  (Mm  to  Cotton  &t.  Prairie  N.W  S.E. 


Coteau  de  Prairie 
arrnacfms  table  land 


Granite       Granite 


Beds  of  alternating  Limestone  and 
Sundstene  of  the  Caj-bflnifeTWUs  Limestone 


^ 

.'   '  i 


\ 


nr 


I 


Explanation  of  yjme  Geological  Terms  used  in  this  Report, 


Anticlinal — where  the  beds  dip  contrariwise,  like  slates  on  the  opposite  sides 
of  the  roof  of  a  house. 

Brachiopoda — molluscous  animals  inhabiting  certain  shells,  with  spiral  arms, 
serving  the  purpose  of  locomotion. 

Conformable — beds  whose  planes  or  faces  conform  in  parallelism  to  each  other. 

Conglomerate — rocks  formed  of  fragments  of  older  rocks,  usually  rounded 
into  the  pebble  form  by  the  action  of  water. 

Cleavage — lines  in  slates  and  other  locks  which  resemble  the  lines  of  stratifica- 
tion, but  which  run  in  a  different  direction.  The  intervention  of  a 
siliceous  seam,  or  sometimes  the  position  of  fossils,  will  determine  doubt- 
ful cases. 

Formation — a  bed  or  group  of  beds,  deposited  at  an  epoch  independent  of  that 
during  which  the  beds  it  lies  between  were  deposited. 

Gonialttes—a.  chambered  shell,  with  a  siphuncle,  spirally  striated,  resembling 
the  ammonite  and  nautilus. 

Jchthyodorulites — defensive  fin  bones  of  an  extinct  shark-like  species  offish. 

fgnigenous — rocks  having  their  origin  from  fire,  in  contradistinction  to  those 

having  their  origin  from  water. 
Lignites — carbonated  fossil  wood. 

Mural  escarpment — perpendicular  cliff's,  presenting  a  section,  of  beds  \ik&  a  wall. 
Nacre — the  brilliant  iridiscent  appearance  on  the  surface  of  some  shells. 

Out-lier—A.  mass  of  rock  detached  from  the  general  formation  of  which  it 
once  formed  a  part. 

Radiaria — animals  including  echinites,  encrinites,  &c. 

Rock— all  beds,  whether  hard  or  soft,  are,  in  geology,  included  in  this  term. 

Section — when  the  edges  of  a  series  of  be,d,s  show  themselves  on  the  banks  of  a 
river,  or  in  any  escarpment,  as  if  the  formation  had  been  cut  through, 
this  is  a  natural  section.  Rivers  cut  through  their  beds,  usually  by  retro- 
cession. 

Seam — a  thin  parting  between  thicker  deposites. 
11 


162 

Sedimentary  rocks — Deposited  from  water. 

Septaria — calcareous  concretions,  divided  by  irregular  lines  of  carbonate  of 
lime  into  septa  or  chambers. 

Siphuncle — A  tube  passing  through  the  septa  of  concamerated  shells,  to  enable 
the  animals  to  rise  and  sink  in  the  water. 

Stratum — a  bed  or  deposite  distinct  from  another  bed. 

Stratified — deposites  formed  by  beds  lying  upon  and  usually  parallel  to  each 

other. 
Strike — the  direction  of  the  edges  of  beds  at  right  angles  to  their  dip,  as  we 

say  to  strike  off\n  any  given  direction.  » 

Synclinal — where  the  beds  converge  towards  each  other  in  concave  lines. 
Talus — a  slope  at  the  foot  of  an  escarpment,  formed  of  the  fallen  materials. 
Unconfarmable—beds  whose  planes  do  not  conform  in  parallelism  to  each  other, 
Unstratified—  amorphous  masses,  without  any  appearance  of  stratification . 
Zoophytes— animals  producing  coral  rocks. 


163 


INDEX, 


A. 

Page. 

Alleghany  ridges,  description  of  -^  •  a  -  '  -  ...  -  103 

Origin  of  \ '  *  -  .,'  -  108 

Extend  to  the  great  bituminous  coal  field  of  the  West  •  109 

Alps,  western,  upheaved  since  the  tertiary  beds  were  deposited  -  67 

Anthracite  coal  -  •  ',*'-  •  -  -  ":,  »t  -  .  -  43 

Slightly  bituminous  -  •"  .  .-',,.  -  44 

At  Seneca  creek,  Potomac  -  •••  ^  -..  ..*._.  -  97 

Between  Sleepy-creek  mountain  and  Third  hill,  Virginia  -  102 

Its  geological  position  distinct  from  that  of  the  bituminous  -  113 

Atlantic  primary  chain  -  -  -  -.-  -  -37 

On  the  Boonsborough  road,  Maryland  -  -  99 

Its  origin  -  -  -  -  100 
B. 

Boulders,  primary  -  117 

Remarkable  locality  of  -  -  141 

Breccia,  calcareous  -  ....  -  98 

Masses  of,  near  Frederick,  Maryland  -  100 

Siliceous,  in  Fauquier,  Virginia  -  100 
C. 

Cambrian  system  of  Sedgwick      -  -  32 

Canal,  Chesapeake  and  Ohio       -  95 

Carboniferous  limestone  -  -  45 

Identified  by  fossils  -  48 

Oolitic  beds  of,  in  the  United  States  -  54 

At  Sandusky,  Ohio  -  -  117 

At  Green  bay  VV-  119 

At  lower  Fox  river  -  -  121 

In  concentric  masses  ...  .  134 

At  Fort  Snelling  -*•  -  135 

Uninterrupted  continuation  of,  for  1000  miles  -  137 

Contains  silicate  of  iron  in  seams  -  -  140 

Geodes  at  Keokuk,  Mississippi  >.'  •  •  159 

Carver,  Captain,  remarkable  locality  mentioned  by  him  -  129 

Cave  in  sandstone  described  by  him  -  135 

River  bearing  his  name  '  •- ''"""  V  '  -  ''  *''•''•  -  138 


164 


INDEX, 


Page. 

Castle  rock,  a  curious  pillar  of  sandstone             -  -             -  133 

Chains,  transition,  general  magnetic  range           -  43 

Mountain,  their  respective  chronologies        -  -68 

Chalk,  deficient  in  the  United  States       -                          -  -  21 

Remarkable  remains  of  this  formation  -  22 

Clay,  slate  .            -  31 

Coal,  bituminous,  resting  on  unconformable  rocks  -            -  42 

Beds  not  dislocated  in  the  ^United  States        -  -  50 

Found  in  Poland  above  the  muschelkalk      -  -  52 

At  Frostburg,  Maryland        -            ....  105 

Remarkable  locality  near  Savage  river,  Potomac  -  106 

Manner  of  shipping  it  at  Sunderland  -  107 

Estimate  of  its  area  in  Pennsylvania  -  -  110 

Its  quality  dependent  on  vegetable  species    -  -  113 

At  Rock  river,  Mississippi     -  -159 

Column,  geological  .  24 

Conglomerates,  origin  of  .  69 

Copper,  carbonate  of,  on  the  Wisconsin  -            -  124 

At  Mineral  point        -  159 

Coteau  de  Prairie,  reconnoissance  from  Washington  to  -  95 

Apparent  height        -  -  153 

Adjacent  country       -  -  154 

Route  to  the  Missouri  -  155 

Cotoctin  mountains  .......93 

Cretaceous  group,  partly  deficient  in  the  United  States  -  »  58 

D. 

Diamonds  in  geodes                      -                         -            -  -            -  78 

E. 

Eatatenka  lake     -            -            -            -            -            .  .            -  156 

F. 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  heard  from  near  St.  Croix  river   -  -  134 

Description  of           -            ...  -  136 

Fault,  meaning  of  the  term                       -            -            -  -            -  72 

Great  extent  of  -  113 

Formation,  explanation  of  -  19 

Fort  Snelling,  geology  of  -  135 

Fort  Winnebago,  geology  of       -  -  122 

Fossils  of  equivalent  strata,  why  not  identical      -  -  92 

Calamites,  &c.  on  the  Potomac  -  97 

In  beds  at  Licking  creek,  Maryland  -  -  102 

Fucoides  Alleghaniensis,  remarkable  position  of  -  104 

At  Bedford  springs,  Pennsylvania     -  -  109 


INDEX.  165 

Page. 

Fossils  :  human  bones  not  found  before  the  historic  period  .-            3,        94 

Vegetable,  predominate  in  the  carboniferous  group  -       112 

At  Fort  Snelling        -  135 

At  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  -  137 

G. 

Geology  useful  to  agriculture      ...  8 

Definition  of  •  ., . ,  v|8 

Gneiss,  a  stratified  rock            £, •*,,,.•     -*#'*,                     -  '  -27 

Decomposed,  near  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia          -        28 

Of  the  Himalaya  chain  -        37 

In  Western  Africa     -  -        37 

Anticlinal,  at  Georgetown      -  -            -        95 

Granite,  trappean  rocks  ejected  from  beneath    -  -        25 

Porphyritic    -  -        26 

Description  of  27 

Graphic  in  Delaware                           -  27 

Grauwacke  restricted  by  Mr.  Murchison  to  the  Cambrian  system  -        36 

Gravel,  calcareous,  useful  as  a  manure    ...  .9 

Beds,  origin  of  69 

Green  sand  formation  in  the  United  States          -  59 

Green  bay,  flux  and  reflux  of  Lake  Michigan      -  -       120 

Gypsum,  deposites  of,  in  Virginia            -  -       116 

Harper's  Ferry    -                                                   -  99 

Hornblende,  porphyritic,  in  Delaware    -  -   ,         -        29 

Huron,  lake,  incorrect  maps  of  -                         -            -  118 

I. 

Inorganic  bodies,  definition  of     -  13 

Intrusive  rocks,  nature  of                         -  -            -         17 

Iron,  where  found  -        70 

Uncertain  extent  of  the  deposites  at  Frostburg  •             -       106 

Aggregate  thickness  of  the  beds  in  Ohio  and  South  Wales  -       1 14 

K. 

Kupferschiefer,  or  copper  slate  -  52 

Supposed  locality  in  the  United  States  >•     -         53 

L. 

Lac  qui  Parle      -  -       150 

LacTravers         -  -       150 

Lias  deficient  in  the  United  States  -            -        55 

Limestone,  primordial      -  .        28 

Traversed  by  serpentine        -  ,    «..        29 

Vertical  lamina:                                   %-  ••,          •         99 

Hydraulic  ,    -                                      -  -u  .        -       101 


166  INDEX. 

Page. 

Limestone,  extends  to  the  North  mountain  -      102 

Fine  anticlinal  section  -       108 

Galeniferous               -                         -  -       123 

Do.  on  sandstone       -  -       124 

Fawn-colored,  on  the  St.  Peter's,  at  Abert's  run  -            -       139 

M. 

Makato,  or  Blue-earth  river         -  -       142 

Fabulous  account  of  copper  mines  disproved  -       145 

Map,  geological,  importance  of,  to  the  United  States    -  -        13 

Metalliferous  rocks           -'.           -  -70 

Michigan  lake,  sandstone  of  Fox  islands  -       119 

Michilimackinac,  geology  of                                 -  118 

Millstone  grit  and  shale,  localities  in  the  United  States  -  -        49 

Near  Shellburg,  Pennsylvania  -      109 

Mississippi,  Upper,  physical  geography  of  -       126 

Murchison,  Mr.,  his  new  arrangement  of  the  transition  beds  -                     23 

N. 

Nacotah  Indians,  meaning  of  their  name  -      138 

Give  names  to  localities  from  particular  incidents  -            -       139 

Nomenclature,  founded  on  natural  principles      -  -        19 

O. 

Ocean,  once  covered  the  earth    -  -        64 

Dry  land  a  result  of  the  raising  of  its  beds    -  65 

Successive  periods  at  which  they  have  been  upheaved         -        66 

Consequences  of  the  displacement  of  its  waters  -                     69 

Oolitic  series,  deficient  in  the  United  States        -  55 

Description  of  56 

Old  red  sandstone  divided  into  three  parts  by  Mr.  Murchison  -            -        56 

Organic  bodies,  definition  of  13 

General  affinity  of,  in  the  older  rocks            •  79 

Some  species  identical  in  distant  parts  of  the  earth  -                      81 

New  arrangement  of  fossil  fish  by  M.  Agassiz  -         81 

Fossil  plants  82 

Serve  to  identify  rocks  -        84 

General  progression  of  84 

Earliest  remains  of  terrestrial  mammalia  -        85 

P. 

Pebbles,  origin  of  14  - 

Pepin,  la'ke,  origin  of      -  -       133 

Potomac,  valley  of                                      -  41 

Disposed  into  anticlinal  and  synclinal  lines     -  -        41 

Pot-holes,  origin  of  -        96 


INDEX.  167 

Page. 

Prairie  du  Chien,  geology  of      -            -  ^        •.'•'•  125 

Primary  rocks,  application  of  the  term   -  -  25 

R. 

Red  sandstone  group,  deficient  in  the  United  States  •'          »            .  51 

Rocks,  chemical  nature  of  -  26 

Mechanical  nature  of  -  26 

Appearance  of,  changed  by  ignigenous  bodies  -  -  27 

Earliest  fossiliferous  -  -  32 

Cause  of  their  inclination      -  -  40 

Deceptive  stratification  of  -  41 

Unconformable          -  -  42 

S. 

Salt,  below  the  coal  measures  in  the  United  States  -  92 

Saliferous  strata  in  the  United  States  -  115 

Near  Abingdon,  Virginia       -  116 
Secondary  beds,  those  not  reached  by  tide-water  lie  west  of  the  Alle- 

ghany  ridges       -  43 

Fossil  plants  of                                             .    -  88 

Sedimentary  rocks,  origin  of       -  18 

Serpentine                        -  ...  30 

Overlying  sedimentary  limestone       -  -            -            -  31 

Silurian  system,  new  arrangement  of,  by  Mr.  Murchison  -  26 

Explanation  of           -                      .    -  -            -            -  33 

Origin  of  the  term     -  ...  34 

Equivalent  of  the  grauwacke  beds    -  -  35 

Valley  of  the  Potomac  .  42 

Do.                do.         -•  .  101 

At  Flintstone,  Maryland        .  -  103 

Sioux,  origin  of  the  term             -            -            -  -            .            .  128 

Slate,  mica  .            .  28 

Talcose      -v>                            „•••»-,.          -    '    *  •  --:•    •   -  29 

Micaceous,  Potomac  \  .            .  96 

Springy  land,  cause  of    -  . '      r  •  .  .8 

St.  Peter's  river  -                                               ....  135 

Indian  name  and  course     „  . .-  •  . '  137 

Passes  through  Bois  Franc    -  .  139 

Limestone  in  place    -  .  140 

Change  of  mineral  formation  -            -  146 

Granite  in  place         -  ...  147 

Grand  Portage  and  laminated  rock    -  -  149 

Its  sources      -           . "       '  .*       -  .           .           .  153 


168  INDEX 

*>age. 

Strata,  correspondence  of,  on  the  sides  of  streams  and  valleys   -  .        15 

Systematic  succession  of  -            -            -        15 

Inorganic        -                                      •  -            -            -         16 

Organic  and  aqueous  origin  of  -             -             -         16 

Causes  of  their  deficiency      -  20 

T. 

Tertiary  order      -     .  -        59 

Localities  in  the  United  States  .            .        62 

Basin  of  Paris  .        89 

Quadrupeds  and  vegetation  of  -        90 

Trap,  an  intrusive  rock  -  17 

Curious  exhibition  of  -         17 

Trempe  a  1'Eau,  description  of  -  -  ,   129 

U. 

Unios,  fossil,  associated  with  coal  plants  -  111 

In  the  alluvial  soil      -  117 

Recent,  Wisconsin  123 

Do.         St.  Peter's    -  14.& 

V. 

Veins,  mineral  .        70 

Their  nature         -  -71 

Clay  found  in  copper  veins  .         72 

Metallic,  general  course  of,  in  the  United  States  .        73 

Sulphuret  of  lead  in  Missouri      -  .        74 

Flat  veins  .        75 

At  Congo  Soco  -  .        77 

Sulphuret  of  lead  at  Dubuque's  and  Galena  158 

W. 

Wealden  group,  deficient  in  the  United  States    -  -        57 

Its  remarkable  organic  remains  ,                                  86 

Western  waters,  lowering  of  their  ancient  level  -       117 

Do.                do.         -  .       122 

Proofs  of       -  -       124 

Wills's  mountain,  near  Cumberland,  Maryland,  description  of    -  104 

Z. 

Zizania  aquatica,  or  wild  rice,  remarkable  extent  of  -                        -      121 


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